Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I also wish to raise the issue of Dublin Airport. Just two months into the pandemic, the DAA announced its redundancy programme. A gun-to-the-head programme was announced. It was obvious that some organisations used the pandemic as cover for a restructure and to reduce costs. The DAA falls into that category. Despite Mr. Phillips's insistence that the DAA was desperate to hire security staff, its initial recruitment guaranteed just 20 hours. People had to be available for 40 hours, but DAA guaranteed them only 20 hours, which has now increased to 30 hours, at €14.14 per hour. This is a job with significant responsibility. People have to be available over weekends. Shift premium is built into that €14.14 in these flexible contracts. Is it any wonder that the airport has a shortage of hundreds of staff, when it offers those kinds of terms? That has to be part of this discussion. That kind of flexibility is not sufficient to allow people to pay their rent or childcare and certainly not to have a second job.

After the Minister met with the DAA back in March, passengers were advised that they should be at the airport two hours in advance of short-haul flights and three hours in advance of long-haul flights. Today it is two and a half hours and three and a half hours, respectively. However, if a passenger wants to put a bag in, which most do, it is another hour. One is really talking about three and a half hours to four and a half hours, respectively.

What I would describe as a fiasco that has flown under the radar until now is the fact that Dublin Airport abysmally failed an EU security audit some time ago. Officials from the European Aviation Safety Agency tried to smuggle dangerous items such as firearms, knives and improvised explosives through the airport. Of the ten smuggling attempts, seven were successful. What has the Minister been told about the absolute guarantee of security? What evidence has the airport given the Minister?

I have no doubt the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, met with the DAA, but what did it tell the Minister? What was the discussion about? Was it a discussion about delays? Was it a discussion about recruitment? Did it talk to the Minister about the payroll problem? What was the substance of the issues that the Minister discussed with the DAA? What assurance did it give him? Did the DAA give them the evidence of how it would resolve these issues? What did it tell him about security and how it can guarantee that what happened with that security audit will not happen again?

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