The Government has supported Minister Eamon Ryan's request for members of the Defence Forces to train and be on stand-by to help at Dublin Airport.
The decision was made during this morning's Cabinet meeting and members of the Defence Forces are to undergo training immediately, according to Minister for Defence Simon Coveney.
Dublin Airport Authority said it has confidence in its current operations and plan to avoid cutting flights, is concerned there is a risk of a Covid-19 surge among its staff and asked that the Government put in place contingency planning.
He said in a statement today: "At today’s Cabinet meeting, the Government has supported a request from the Minister for Transport, Mr. Eamon Ryan, T.D. for members of the Defence Forces to undergo training and be on stand-by to assist the DAA with the provision of aviation security duties at Dublin Airport.
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"While I recognise that the role of the Defence Forces is not normally to assist in the provision of services for a commercial airport, I have agreed to this request on a clear assurance that this is a distinct piece of work, provided in extreme circumstances, as a short-term emergency related contingency action and is in direct response to a letter from DAA management to the Minister for Transport."
Minister Coveney continued by saying "the request is clearly defined in terms of the role and timeline, lasting no more than six weeks, in non-public facing duties".
"Over the last number of days, I consulted with the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Sean Clancy on this request," he said.
Members will undergo training "immediately" and "stand ready to assist if the need arises". This support will be stood down in August after the busy summer peak has passed.
Minister Coveney said: "The DAA have given assurances that they will continue with their own recruitment and onboarding of additional security staff and the introduction of other mitigations during this period."
A daa spokesman said: "While capacity reductions, which have been deployed at other UK and European airports, have been considered as a possible option, there is general agreement that this is undesirable, given that it would be very challenging to implement with airlines and it would have a material impact on the summer travel plans of a significant number of Irish passengers and families most of whom have not enjoyed a foreign holiday in over two years.
"Hence, daa outlined to Government that a prudent contingency at this juncture could be for the State Authorities and daa to take initial steps to facilitate the training of Defence Forces personnel at the airport’s Vehicle Control Posts, should this ultimately be required.
"As a first phase, we outlined that the State could take preparatory steps in the immediate term to train and prepare Defence Forces personnel for such a deployment, in the event that significant COVID-19-related absences due to illness and infection affected daa’s own security team. Any deployment of Defence Forces personnel would only be triggered as a second phase, and only if ultimately required due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
"As recently as last weekend we have started to see the impact of the current rise in COVID-19 cases in the aviation sector, with 13 flights cancelled by one carrier last Sunday alone, citing an outbreak of COVID-19 amongst its staff as a key contributory factor.
"daa’s management team has been in regular and frequent contact with both Ministers Ryan and Naughton, and their officials in the Department of Transport, to consider any further contingency measures that could be implemented at Dublin Airport in the event of a resurgence of the virus over the coming months."
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