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Dublin Airport rumbles and Fianna Fáil grumbles ahead of long weekend

Inside Politics: Long passenger queues become platinum-plated problem for politicians and airport bosses

Dublin Airport Authority chief executive Dalton Philips appeared at the Oireachtas Transport and Communications Committee meeting on Wednesday to discuss issues at Dublin Airport. It emerged Mr Philips used the airport's private Platinum Services when flying to Saudi Arabia last weekend. Photograph: Collins

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Jennifer Bray
Thu Jun 2 2022 - 08:07

What started as a lengthy queue has become a platinum-plated problem for politicians and airport bosses, just before a busy bank holiday weekend.

As Barry O’Halloran and Jack Horgan Jones report on the front page this morning, passengers face waiting up to an hour to get through Dublin Airport over this bank holiday weekend.

The DAA, which runs the airport, has outlined its plan to avoid a repeat of last week’s chaos which saw an estimated 1,400 people miss their flights, but some politicians at yesterday’s Oireachtas committee hearing seemed far from convinced it would work.

Passengers arriving too early for flights at Dublin Airport look set to be asked to wait in a holding area as part of the effort to avoid long queues of people with a range of departure times, the committee was told.

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There was a lot of figures flying around the room: an “anomaly” of 17 new recruits being rostered on security last Sunday; promises that 40 extra security officers would work this bank holiday weekend; promises there would be 167 new security officers by the end of June.

And then came an unexpected figure.

Dalton Philips, chief executive of DAA, flew to Saudi Arabia last weekend using the airport’s private Platinum Services, at a cost of €295. He said the process took an hour and that cost came from his travel budget, which is another way of saying that he did not pay for it himself.

He used a chauffeur service that comes with the Platinum Service and explained that it was important as chief executive to “see all our different products”.

When he landed at his transfer airport in Kuwait, news of the chaos in the airport reached him. “I came straight back as soon as I heard,” he said.

TDs and Senators are already under intense pressure from their constituents to resolve the delays being experienced in terms of passport applications, and to a frustrated public the airport havoc is another layer of unwelcome stress. Tens of thousands of people will pass through the airport in “waves” this weekend — but whether the grand plan to manage queues and bring in extra workers is a success remains to be seen.

Politicians have succeeded in laying the blame on the DAA so far, while the DAA has partially blamed anomalies. Neither tactic will cut the mustard if similar scenes are replicated into next week. Keep an eye on irishtimes.com for developments.

A shot across the bows at Fianna Fáil meeting

For a while there it seemed as though Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin had silenced his internal critics, but it appears the discontent was not salved, merely in abeyance.

As Harry McGee reports from last night’s parliamentary party meetings, Fianna Fáil backbencher Barry Cowen tabled a motion questioning the party’s performance in Government. Among the concerns raised by Cowen was a fear that the party is being sidelined by Sinn Féin.

“After a year of relative calm within the party, the motion proposed by Offaly TD Barry Cowen is being received within Fianna Fáil as a shot across the bows of the leadership,” McGee reports. The motion was the subject of “intensive debate” at the meeting, we are told.

The motion referred specifically to the party’s poor levels of support in recent opinion polls, a delay in holding its ardfheis, as well as unrealised commitments made at the party’s think-in in Cavan last September. Cowen also specifically demanded that the party lay down a date for a Border poll, something which Martin has resisted as he favours an approach based around reconciliation and dialogue.

As the summer recess draws closer, and with the planned changeover of taoiseach later in the year fast approaching, it looks as though some TDs in Fianna Fáil may be ready to return to the issue of leadership. There is no great surprise there but for now, the ball is still very much in the Taoiseach’s court.

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Playbook

Dáil Éireann

The Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman will take parliamentary questions on his brief at 9am followed by questions to the Minister for Environment Eamon Ryan at 10:30am. Next up is Leaders’ Questions at noon and then Government Business at 1:44pm. This will include statements on higher education and then the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2022 returns. Topical Issues are up at 6:30pm followed by debate on the housing committee’s report on urban regeneration. The Dáil adjourns at 9:33pm.

You can find the full schedule here.

Seanad

Proceedings in the Seanad kick off with Commencement Matters at 10:30am followed by the Order of Business. At 1:15pm will be Private Members’ Business where the Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill is on the agenda. The legislation is being proposed to protect the native Irish honey bee which is under threat of extinction. If passed, the law would ban imports of non-native bees. At 3:15pm, Government Business is scheduled with the Birth Information and Tracing Bill on the agenda. This legislation gives adopted people access to their birth records. The Seanad adjourns around 4pm.

The full schedule is here.

Committees

The Joint Committee on Gender Equality meets at 9am and will hear from Early Childhood Ireland and representatives from Treoir. The Public Accounts Committee meets at 9:30 with topics to be covered including direct provision and procurement matters including the awarding of a catering contract to provide meals for Ukrainian refugees. At 9:45am the Joint Committee on Disability Matters meets to discuss disability services with the Minister of State Anne Rabbitte. At 11am, the Joint Committee on International Surrogacy has a hearing scheduled to examine how best to prevent the exploitation or coercion of surrogates and intending parents.

The best of the rest can be found here.