Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I also raise the outrageous delays in Dublin Airport over the weekend. Clearly, these have had a devastating effect for so many people. We know 1,000 people have missed their flights and that people missed out on job opportunities, work-related travel, funerals, weddings, holidays and so much more. Clearly, this is a huge issue of consumer rights and a huge issue for those passengers who were so seriously inconvenienced over the weekend.

However, it is not just a matter of poor planning by the DAA, although that is clearly a serious issue in itself, but also points to two broader issues for which the Government must take responsibility. The first is a failure of our national aviation policy, specifically, a failure to ensure effective distribution of flights among our airports, because it is not just about Dublin Airport and we are conscious many people are now looking to other airports like those in Cork or Farranfore. They are looking at airports where there is capacity and seeing the contrast between them and the chaos we saw at the weekend at Dublin Airport. It is, therefore, about a national aviation policy that must take into account distribution of workload among our regional airports.

It is also, at a broader level, about workers' rights. That is something our transport spokesperson, Deputy Duncan Smith, has been raising consistently for some time now. We saw the DAA lay off staff during Covid in significant numbers and we saw the Government failing to put in a no-redundancy clause as a condition of the State supports that were being granted. We know the DAA took advantage of those supports, such as the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, that comes to an end today, yet there was no conditionality around workers' rights in that. We heard this morning from an anonymous worker at Dublin Airport about the serious issues around workplace conditions and pay that pertain for the many staff at Dublin Airport. Many of them took the brunt of understandable passenger frustration at the weekend and so many of them are in such a low-paid sector. The real concern we have is we have seen Dublin Airport become a low-cost airport, as the preponderance of low-cost airlines has dominated and we have seen a race to the bottom as a result.

I am asking the Minister first to reassure passengers that we will not see the same chaotic scenes at the airport this weekend. Will he also assure the House there will be a proper and effective national aviation strategy put in place to ensure this imbalance between one airport and our other airports does not occur again? Will the Government also take steps to ensure the serious staffing issues and the low-pay conditions for so many staff at Dublin Airport are addressed and that we see better conditions for staff and a genuine commitment to move to a living wage, as we saw in our Labour Party Bill on a living wage?

Last week, we welcomed the Tánaiste's announcement that the Government will introduce legislation on a living wage. We are conscious that Ireland has a serious problem with low pay, with one in five of the workforce low paid. It is not just about Dublin Airport, but clearly that was a major factor in the staffing shortfall that led to such chaotic scenes for so many at the weekend.

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