Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Acting Leader to invite the Minister for Transport to the House to discuss the ongoing delays experienced by passengers at Dublin Airport as a matter of urgency. With the collapse of the aviation sector during the pandemic, we all accepted that there would be some recovery time needed but what passengers at Dublin Airport experienced last weekend was unacceptable. I appreciate that the Dublin Airport Authority is taking necessary steps in hiring and training the necessary staff but it is unbelievable that we have airlines asking passengers to come to the airport three and a half hours before their appointed departure times, even for short-haul European flights. Something has gone dramatically wrong. I ask that the Minister would come to the House to provide an update on the situation. I encourage people to use Cork Airport as a means of flying to Europe and the United Kingdom because it is a passenger-friendly facility and the queues there are much smaller than those at Dublin Airport. Notwithstanding that, it is important that the Minister come to the House.

I ask that the Minister for Education would also come to the House to debate leaving certificate reform. All of us who have been involved in education, as the Acting Chairman has, welcome the changes announced today. We welcome the fact that the written examination will be worth no more than 60% of a student's exam results at the end and the fact that some students will be able to sit a particular exam in fifth year. The initiation of change is one part but clarity, engagement, consultation and delivery of the final piece of the leaving certificate reform are why the Minister should come to the House. I ask the Acting Chairman and the Deputy Leader to ask her to come to the House as a matter of urgency.