I wish to raise the consequences of the security audit at Dublin Airport last week, the delays passengers are experiencing and the frustration and anger of thousands of people who are being discommoded not because of the importance of security for every passenger but because of the inability to manage numbers effectively at the airport. A person travelling from south County Dublin who must use the M50 at a reasonably busy time and must be in Dublin Airport at least an hour and a half before a flight to Cork takes off, is undertaking what is practically a five hour journey, the same amount of time it would take to travel to America.

Last Thursday, I was in the airport and missed a flight to Cork. That was not of great consequence to the nation but it gave one the experience of going through the corral with 600 other people, some with their shoes off. It is anticipated that 18 million passengers will use the airport this year. The influx and exodus of hundreds of thousands of people will cause utter chaos at the airport. The Taoiseach was to seek a report from the Dublin Airport Authority last week. Has he received that report? Can he give an indication of how it is proposed to improve the efficiency with which the throughput of passengers can be accomplished? Last week the staff were under pressure but there appeared to be at least two unused scanner machines during the period I was approaching the scanner, which was a considerable time.

It is anticipated that 18 million people will use the airport but people will not come to this country if they cannot do business or find it virtually impossible to get through Dublin Airport. What plans do the Government and the Dublin Airport Authority have to deal with this crisis now and prevent early morning flights being delayed, with thousands of passengers discommoded?

The Minister received a preliminary report but the detailed report from the European Union inspectors will not be available for some time. They provided a preliminary oral briefing to the Department of Transport on the outcome of the inspection last Friday but the written report will take a number of weeks. However, the oral report probably deals with most of the important issues.

The Minister for Transport received a report from his officials yesterday and that report incorporates the views of the Dublin Airport Authority on the inspection. It is not the policy to publicise the outcome of inspections and audits and to state exactly what is in the report but there were obviously serious deficiencies in the system. There were a number of breaches, although explosives or detonators were not involved, as some reports suggested. However, knives and other instruments got through, some in people's shoes and some in garments, which is a serious issue.

The Minister for Transport is determined that deficiencies identified will be remedied. His Department has been working with the authority since last week to ensure a consistent application of the required security standards and practices to keep a balance between good security and no excessive delays. The board's sub-committee on security has held a special meeting. It has announced its intention to appoint an internationally recognised consultant to look at the security of the airport to see how best to achieve that balance. Following what happened last week, the staff are taking a tough line on everything. The security committee will meet tomorrow to discuss developments and review arrangements at the airport. The Department of Transport and the Garda will attend that meeting. An early meeting of the National Civil Aviation Security Committee, chaired by the Department of Transport, is also planned. The advisory committee includes representatives of the Garda, the airlines, airports, Departments and a number of other bodies.

The recent delays have resulted from the increased security. The DAA is monitoring passenger movements and controls to minimise this inconvenience. It is liaising with the airlines as more staff on the stands eases delays. Last Sunday, many of the stands were not opened. Passengers have been asked to minimise hand baggage and to turn up earlier. All the existing units are to be manned to move numbers through. The DAA has indicated that it is reviewing the level of resources available to manage the situation. Some 60 additional screeners are being trained, 20 of whom are ready to work. It will take approximately four weeks to get all units operational, but all current units are operational, which was not the case last week.

The Government is committed to ensuring the highest standards of aviation security at our airports. The Department of Transport will follow up on the lessons learned from the inspection last week. It will try to ensure that the maximum number of units are open so that people can be moved through quickly.

The Taoiseach is a great person to read up on matters and he knows all the anecdotes. It would pay him to go to the airport at rush hour and observe what is happening. I am interested to hear that 20 trained screeners will be available in a couple of weeks, but I do not know whether there will be equipment for them to use. With 300 or 400 people going through two corrals, one would feel sorry for them as they drag their luggage and their children with them. Airports such as Brussels, Schiphol, Copenhagen and Rome carry an enormous throughput of passengers and this endless stream of queueing for security checks is rarely seen. That leads me to the inevitable conclusion that the delays here are because the Government has failed to make its decision about a second terminal. In her party conference, the Tánaiste stated that the issue was competition between airports and capacity in airports. Does the Taoiseach share that view?

On several occasions last year, the Taoiseach made it clear that a decision was imminent. Unlike his comments on the news about the sporting organisations, will the Taoiseach tell the nation when his Government expects to make a definitive decision about a second terminal for Dublin Airport?

The present terminal was built to cater for 20 million passengers per annum and the new terminal is scheduled to cater for between 20 million and 30 million passengers. Decisions on that issue are imminent. The 60 additional screeners have equipment and this should speed up the operation. There is also a balance in the security checks undertaken. Last weekend, the screeners were reused so everything was picked up. The consultant is being brought in to find out the standard used in other international airports. The security checks showed up every last thing, thereby causing the delays. That was not the position the previous week so some balance must be sought.

Obviously more people are required and 20 of the additional 60 will be ready this week while the remaining 40 will start work over the coming weeks, before the holiday season. Many of the stands were not open last weekend, which is ridiculous. If all the stands are open, at least people can be moved through with some efficiency. A number of meetings will take place tomorrow to alleviate the problems for the travelling public.

There is plenty of room in Knock Airport.