Regulators found no evidence of serious deficiencies in Dublin Airport’s recruitment and training of security staff in a recent investigation, State company DAA has told politicians.
A whistleblower warned the Government last year that security screening at Dublin Airport was “not fit for purpose”, prompting the safety regulator, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), to investigate the claims in March.
Investigators “found no evidence of any serious or systemic deficiencies with respect to recruitment, training or certification at Dublin Airport”, Kenny Jacobs, DAA chief executive, told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications in a recent letter.
He confirmed that the IAA investigation team had ended its work and given a report to the DAA.
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The investigators found that the State airports company trains and certifies security officers in accordance with the National Civil Aviation Security Programme and IAA certification procedures.
Mr Jacobs was responding to Senator Gerry Horkan, the joint committee’s acting chairman, who was following up on confirmation from the IAA that the safety regulator had concluded its investigation.
It emerged in March that a whistleblower had given Labour TD Duncan Smith a protected disclosure the previous June, which he passed to Eamon Ryan, Minister for Transport, in the Dáil.
The disclosure claimed that screening at Ireland’s biggest airport was in a critical situation that left possible gaps for explosives to slip through to aircraft flights. The document added that a lapse in training standards had led to below par screening at the airport, leaving vulnerabilities that could be exploited.
The whistleblower maintained that those responsible for training new staff lacked experience, while the DAA was ignoring rules governing exams that new officers had to pass.
The unnamed individual worked at Dublin Airport but was in dispute with DAA over a pay review and bullying accusations, and had taken this to the Workplace Relations Commission.
The IAA began the investigation as it said it had found “prima facie” evidence that “wrongdoing may have occurred”. The airport company said it would co-operate fully with any investigation.
The claims date back to last year when DAA was struggling to recruit security staff amid an unexpected post-Covid surge in travel. Queues at the airport one weekend caused passengers to miss flights, prompting a row that led to management appearing before the joint committee.
The State company has since tackled the security staff shortage and maintains that most passengers now get through screening in less than 20 minutes.
