Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine border control post (BCP) at Dublin Airport operates everyday between 7:30am and 9:00pm, Monday to Sunday. My staff provide a range of services including inspections on imports from non-EU countries and compliance checks on pets arriving in Ireland.

Passengers coming from outside the EU with their pets are required to notify my officials in advance of their arrival. If they arrive outside of normal operating hours, an on-call service is available through a private operator who conducts compliance checks on behalf of the department. Only a small number of passengers use this out-of-hours service annually.

The estimated costs of extending the hours of service from the current hours outlined to 7.30 to 11 pm, seven days a week, are approximately €670,000. This estimate is based on the additional administration staff requirement as well as an increase in the numbers of officers from the professional grades. My Department have assessed that two additional Veterinary Inspectors, two additional Assistant Agricultural Inspectors, one additional Executive Officer Portal Inspector and four additional Clerical Officer Portal Inspectors, at an estimated combined annual additional cost of €570,622.40, would be required. Furthermore, there would also be a requirement to extend the hours of operation of the current facilities management contract with a projected increased cost of approximately €100,000 per annum.

To date, my Department has not received any requests to extend the operational hours at Dublin Airport and I am satisfied that the current opening hours are sufficient to meet the existing demand.