Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan will be engaging with Dublin Airport over long delays passengers are facing, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
Mr Martin said Mr Ryan and Minister of State for Transport Hildegarde Naughton would engage with the airport as some passengers reported missing flights over the weekend after queuing for more than two hours to get through security checks.
The issue was raised by Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon in the Dáil on Tuesday. He said “we all watched on with a sense of dismay and bewilderment at the scenes of would-be travellers crammed into the departure lounge, some not being able to go on their holidays for the absence of security staff”.
The Dublin Central TD said 1,000 redundancies were offered to security staff during the Covid-19 pandemic and only 100 people had been rehired.
“There is a rehiring process going on at the moment for a fee of €14.40 per hour for 20 hours guaranteed and another 20 hours of flexibility,” he said.
That’s not going to be enough in terms of securing the type of essential staff we need to ensure our airports are secure and well managed.”
Mr Martin said there are “real challenges” in staffing key sectors of the economy and that the Government would do “everything we can”.
Meanwhile, the airport has paused the sale of new fast-track passes in order to “improve the security screening process for all passengers”.
DAA, which operates the airport, attributed the weekend queues to staff shortages following the collapse of international travel during the pandemic.
The DAA “apologised unreservedly” to passengers who missed their flights as a result of the queues. But it warned that waiting times are likely to continue for days and weeks ahead.
On Tuesday the airport announced it is pausing the sale of fast-track passes “for the time being”.
The pass allows travellers to enter a shorter queue and move through security quicker, at a cost of between €6.99 and €12.99.
“All existing bookings remain valid and will be honoured. This move is one of a number of measures being taken to improve the security screening process for all passengers,” said the airport.
“Additionally, Dublin Airport can confirm that, given the difficulties faced by passengers last weekend, all fast track bookings from March 25th to 27th are being refunded.”
Passenger experience
A spokesman for the DAA said they are doing “everything in our power” to ensure security operations are operating “at the maximum level possible at all times” and to ensure “no further passengers have an experience at Dublin Airport like last weekend”.
Other actions being taken include the redeployment of staff from other areas of the business, establishment of a senior management task force and the continual review of staffing arrangements at security points in terminals.
The airport has also revised passenger advice and is considering keeping security open 24/7 as a short-term measure to “avoid the build-up of queues in advance of early morning departures when the airport is at its busiest”.
DAA has advised all passengers to be at the airport a minimum of two hours before boarding a short-haul flight and three hours prior to boarding a long-haul flight, although at peak times people should consider arriving ahead of that.
Ryanair has advised passengers to arrive at least 3½ hours before their scheduled departure time.
