Gardaí believe Dublin Airport incident to be smuggling, Dáil told

An Garda Síochána consider what happened in Dublin Airport to be a smuggling operation rather than terrorism or human trafficking, Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald told the Dáil.

“But the situation remains very serious,’’ she added.

Replying to a series of question, Ms Fitzgerald said her department had kept in close conduct with the Department of Transport, and both Aer Lingus and the Dublin Airport Authority were co-operating fully with An Garda in the investigation.

She said the National Civil Aviation Security Committee was reviewing all relevant issues relating to aviation security at the airport, particularly any issue relating to the access arrangements.

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“We need to know how this happened and why,’’ Ms Fitzgerald added.

“Therefore, in the light of the seriousness of the situation, I will work with my colleague Minister Ross to review the procedures in place so that the public can have full confidence in the security of our borders.’’

Earlier, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said he was surprised a security review had not been carried out at the airport.

He said there had been a fundamental security breach and they should not be waiting around on the issue.

Terrorists

“I would point out that, across the globe, airports have been targeted by terrorists,’’ he added.

“They have been targeted by different operators and we cannot be complacent about it.’’

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said it was not known how long the alleged activities had been going on at the airport and they had come to light because of vigilance at another airport.

He said there had been an ongoing assessment of the situation at Irish airports.

While security was a matter for the airport authority, those involved never got as far as passport control or emigration.

The Dublin Airport Authority had vastly scaled up the assessments of passports coming through, Mr Kenny said.

The threat from terrorists, he added, was assessed with the international organisations Interpol and Europol, and there was no reason to indicate any specific difficulty with particular people.

He said there would be a full response from the Government as more details emerged.