Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh ár gcuairteoirí. It is great to see them all here.

I want to bring to the attention of the House a very serious issue that was raised recently by way of protected disclosure at Dublin Airport by a very senior and experienced member of staff there, with decades of experience in dealing with security and matters of passenger safety. This is to do with the screening of baggage and personnel going through terminals 1 and 2. This protected disclosure, which was made known to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and which is currently being investigated by the Irish Aviation Authority, shows systemic failures in the training of all recently recruited staff. Members will remember the chaos last year in the wake of Covid, when air traffic and travel resumed its pace. The Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, has recruited hundreds of people but there are systemic failures in its capacity to screen baggage and personnel for explosive devices and firearms. In a recent stress test, seven replica firearms and replica IEDs got through to aircraft. That makes Ireland and Dublin Airport de factothe airport of choice for terrorists who would choose to target any of our aircraft departing for a European city or the United States. We all put our children on those aircraft and we travel on them ourselves. At 37,000 ft., you are very vulnerable. I do not want to be in flight wondering about what is in the hold of the aircraft. This is not rocket science.

I am also very alarmed to note that the person who made this protected disclosure faces involuntary termination of his employment on Friday. I appeal to the CEO and the board of the DAA not to proceed with this termination of his employment. It will bring about the perception of corporate reprisal or retaliation on a person of conscience or on a whistleblower. This person acted in the public interest and should not be subjected to this type of retaliation. We have moved on from the time of Maurice McCabe, and, indeed, my own treatment, to a republic where people can speak up.

In regard to all of these serious issues, which speak to systemic failures, I ask that the transport committee would summon the board, the chief executive and staff of the DAA to come in here to answer questions. They are refusing to do so because they say they are too busy, but I think this is precisely the time, in advance of the summer travel period, that they must come in and address the public, given the strong and compelling public interest component of this.