Last week, I raised with the Taoiseach the issue of long queues in Dublin Airport leading to some passengers missing their flights. After that, I was contacted by staff at Dublin Airport who stated that despite several years' service on the security team, they are still waiting for full-time contracts and are currently on rosters that give them little more than 20 hours' work per week. They indicated that the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, has many fully trained and experienced security staff who would love to be working on full-time contracts and instead are on these rosters with reduced hours. This race to the bottom in working conditions is unfair on staff and passengers and is damaging to our international reputation. Did the Taoiseach contact the DAA as he committed to do last week? What did it say? Does the Taoiseach stand over this exploitative treatment of staff by a semi-State company? Will he ask the DAA to end the chaos at the airport and give these workers full-time contracts?

In the first instance, I will say that the most immediate focus with regard to this matter at the DAA has been on reducing the inconvenience caused by long queueing for the public at large. The DAA has recruited more than 100 staff and is actively recruiting more. It is responsible for staffing and recruitment and for the terms and conditions of employment of staff. The Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, has been holding daily briefings with the CEO, Mr. Dalton Philips, and other senior DAA staff. The immediate situation has improved and recruitment efforts are being redoubled. In terms of pay and conditions, again, the DAA is obviously responsible in that regard. It makes sense, however, to make sure that good-quality employment and conditions are provided in order to ensure continuity and the retention of a good number of staff. However, there may also be other issues there that have given rise to this situation.