Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. She did not say anything I disagreed with. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, who, as the Senator pointed out, is attending meetings on this very issue.

What we witnessed at Dublin Airport last weekend was totally unacceptable. The Government and Minister are very dissatisfied with the current situation and the impact that these unacceptable delays are having on passengers.

This is an operational matter for the Dublin Airport Authority which has the statutory responsibility to operate, manage and develop Dublin Airport, including all the operations associated with screening and security at the airport. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, met the CEO of the Dublin Airport Authority, Dalton Philips, and his management team first thing yesterday morning. The Ministers expressed their immense disappointment and frustration at the unacceptable scenes at Dublin Airport over the weekend. Reputational damage was caused last Sunday. The images went viral very quickly. My niece flew out of Dublin Airport at 6.30 a.m. on Sunday and it took her three hours to get through to her flight. That was before the peak.

I agree wholeheartedly with the Senator on balanced regional development, which is the cornerstone of the programme for Government. Sometimes issues arise in the capital city where more than 1.5 million people live. The Senator spoke about the various airports. There is positive mood music in Waterford today in respect of the extension to the runway. There is no doubt, however, that many of our regional airports, in Cork, Shannon, Kerry and Knock, are underutilised at times.

I will outline the response to the situation that gave rise to the events last Sunday. In seeking to address the security staff shortage at the airport, Dublin Airport Authority has stepped up recruitment and to date has successfully recruited 300 additional staff. As the Senator stated, a further 70 security staff are required. The number of new staff being on-boarded at the same time as passenger numbers are increasing is bringing fresh challenges. It is vital that staff maintain operational security compliance as a priority.

I am advised that the DAA put a number of additional measures in place since queueing issues first arose in March, including initiating a senior management task force, redeployment of staff to manage queues and assist with better presentations to security, and the opening of terminal 1, or T1, security lanes on a 24-7 basis. Until last weekend, these measures were having an impact. In general, the majority of passengers were getting through security in less than 45 minutes, even in busy periods. However, last weekend, on Sunday in particular, wait times fell well short of any acceptable level.

To return to the point raised by Senator Byrne, there are great opportunities for people living in the south of the country to use Cork and Shannon airports. When people compare and contrast the costs of flight from the various airports, it sometimes encourages them to travel to seek the best value.

I was struck over the weekend by how upset some people were. Families with young babies, elderly people and people travelling to funerals were unable to make their flights, which is unacceptable.I know many of the Senator's colleagues have said similar to what she has said about having other airports in the country. Every effort should be made to utilise them. There is no doubt that nobody wants to see what happened last Sunday happen again. We are facing into a very busy bank holiday period. I reiterate the point the Senator made. Staff are under pressure. It is a very difficult situation and it is very important that they are treated with respect at all times.