Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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117. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the way that he plans to improve security check waiting times across Irish airports; the additional resources that will be provided to Dublin Airport to ensure that the long delays for passengers are not repeated during the busy summer months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21013/22]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I am very much aware of the recent delays experienced by passengers, particularly those departing from Dublin Airport, and the negative impact these delays have had on those passengers.

In relation to Dublin Airport, daa has the statutory responsibility to operate, manage and develop the airport, including all the operations associated with security screening at the Airport.

I have met with and had briefings from the daa CEO Dalton Philips and other senior staff where I expressed concern at the situation and the impact the delays were having on passengers. I established a daily crisis management meeting between the Department and daa to monitor the situation.

The company has undertaken significant work to address and mitigate the security queue times at Dublin Airport. It has put in place a number of measures including stepping up recruitment efforts; redeployment of staff where possible; establishing a senior management taskforce; opening security lanes on a 24/7 basis and enhancing communications with passengers. These measures are having a positive impact on passenger queue times at the airport. This positive impact was seen over the Easter weekend, even as passenger numbers reached around 200,000 departing passengers between Good Friday and Easter Monday. The vast majority of passengers went through security in under 40 minutes, and I am informed by daa that no passenger missed their flight as a result of security delays.

On 19 April daa published revised advice for passengers following consistently improved queuing times over the last few weeks, including over Easter weekend. Passengers are now advised to arrive at the airport up to 2.5 hours before the departure of short-haul flights to Europe and the UK. The recommendation for long-haul passengers remains up to 3.5 hours.

Dublin Airport is planning for a significant increase in passenger volumes over the coming months. It does note that this increase will present a considerable challenge. Management is reviewing the experience of the last number of weeks to further develop and refine measures to cater for the increased passenger numbers. I will continue to monitor the situation over the coming days and weeks and continue to engage with daa to ensure the positive impacts seen recently are maintained for passengers using Dublin Airport.