Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to update the House on this topic. As Deputies are aware, the Government last week supported a request for members of the Defence Forces to undergo appropriate training and certification to enable them to be on standby to assist the DAA with security activities at Dublin Airport, if required, over the coming peak summer weeks. Putting this emergency contingency measure in place does not mean that members of the Defence Forces will automatically be deployed to the airport. Instead, they will be ready for deployment if required by the DAA. This decision comes on foot of a proposal from the DAA for the potential deployment of the Defence Forces as a prudent step primarily because of the risk of the resurgence of Covid-19 and the effect that could have on its staff and the operations at this exceptionally busy time. During the Omicron wave in early 2022, more than one in four Dublin Airport security staff were absent. Given the high numbers going through the airport every day any recurrence of such high absence levels could have a significant impact on the airport’s continued ability to process passengers through security.

The programme for Government acknowledges the value of aviation in supporting economic development, international connectivity and tourism via our airports. In view of this the Government is committed to do what is necessary to ensure that flights do not need to be cancelled at Dublin Airport, as has been the case at other European airports, and that passengers have the assurance that they will not miss their holidays or other travel arrangements where they arrive at the airport within the advised timeframes.

On foot of the Government decision, the Defence Forces will be available on standby from this week for a defined period over the peak summer months. This is a short-term emergency-related contingency measure to protect passengers’ travel arrangements as well as to avoid reputational damage to Ireland’s aviation sector. Training and certification of the Defence Forces will be appropriate to the assigned aviation security tasks but will take account of the existing training and skills of Defence Force personnel. If deployed, members of the Defence Forces will be involved in specific, non-public-facing roles, relieving DAA staff for security and screening duties in the main terminals. In the event of significant staff shortages due to Covid-19 it is envisaged that the Defence Forces personnel could be deployed to operate the external gate posts into the security-restricted area of Dublin Airport, thereby potentially freeing up approximately 100 staff who could be deployed to the main terminals. The exact number of Defence Force personnel who will be trained and available to undertake these roles is being finalised. It is expected that 130 personnel will be involved.

As this is purely a contingency measure, while members of the Defence Forces will be deployed, they will only be deployed to Dublin Airport if requested by the DAA and in a scenario where there is a significant deterioration in passenger queuing times, with a risk of large numbers of passengers missing their flights.

Regarding longer-term security resourcing at Dublin Airport, I reassure Deputies that this emergency measure will not take away from the DAA's plans for the recruitment and training of additional security staff. The DAA is continuing in this regard, with the expectation that optimal staffing levels will be realised by August. The DAA has advised that, by that time, 480 new security staff will have commenced employment at the airport since October 2021. As a precautionary measure, particularly in the context of the ongoing uncertainty regarding the impact of Covid-19 on the availability of staff, this level of resourcing includes additional staff over and above the 2019 staffing levels. Passenger numbers at Dublin Airport are now at over 90% of the 2019 levels, and it is expected that approximately 50,000 people will travel through Dublin Airport every day during the coming peak period. The DAA's ongoing recruitment campaign, supported by this emergency contingency measure, will ensure that passengers can travel safely through Dublin Airport over the busy summer period ahead.

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