Well, Taoiseach, this is it: our last exchange.

Pray it will be.

Before I put my question to the Taoiseach, which I have no doubt he will answer in full with a fully amplified answer, I wish him and his the very best for the future, whatever that might bring.

There has been major disruption at Dublin Airport over the past couple of days. Flights in and out of the airport have been cancelled or delayed and people's travel plans have been thrown into chaos. Some were booked onto later flights, many had to make alternative arrangements and others faced the prospect of booking expensive accommodation they had not budgeted for. Airport users have told stories of being sent from pillar to post when seeking information following the cancellation of their flights and there has been serious frustration, confusion and a sense of "Here we go again". I appreciate that a spell of extreme cold weather presents challenges, and I also accept there have been some knock-on effects from disruption at other airports. However, we cannot shy away from the fact that once again, there has been a real failure to prepare at Dublin Airport and there has not been a word from the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, or from the Government.

It seems the lessons of the summer have gone unlearned.

We have a right to expect that part of the contingency planning for wintertime at a major European airport would be a plan to keep flights going during a cold snap, yet it seems planning for the de-icing of aircraft and runways was only an afterthought, as management was taken by surprise. Once again, we see authorities scrambling around rather than being prepared for a scenario that was entirely foreseeable, and we have been here before. In the summer, the failure to plan at Dublin Airport brought chaos and the situation, as the Taoiseach will recall, spiralled out of control because the Minister for Transport failed to get to grips with the crisis. Now it seems the Minister is asleep at the wheel again.

Christmas is the busiest time of year at Dublin Airport. Approximately 1 million people will pass through the airport during the holidays. It is a time when people reconnect and when many of our young people who have emigrated will return home to their families and friends, and the only scenes we should see at Dublin Airport at Christmastime are scenes of joy, happiness and reconnection. We cannot have a return to the mayhem that enveloped the airport during the summer. It is the responsibility of the Government, and the Minister in particular, to ensure that all preparations are made. Ours is a small island nation; we rely heavily on our airports to ensure our connectivity with the rest of the world. Along with the personal distress, episodes of significant disruption damage Ireland's international reputation for business and investment. That is the reality. The Minister must wake up and do his job to ensure Dublin Airport runs properly. We cannot afford more chaos.

Tá an cur isteach mór atá ag tarlú ag Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath doghlactha. Tá an tAire Iompair, an Teachta Eamon Ryan, ina chodladh arís. Caithfidh sé a chuid oibre a dhéanamh agus a chinntiú nach mbeidh cíorthuathail againn san aerfort i rith na Nollag. The Government must step forward and be proactive. There has to be a plan for this. Has the Taoiseach spoken to the Minister about the current disruption at Dublin Airport? Has he instructed the Minister to intervene immediately in order that we do not have a return to travel chaos at Dublin Airport this Christmas?

First of all, I thank the Deputy for her initial comments and her “this is it” approach. I thought there was an Elvis Presley moment coming on me there, like in his song "I Miss You" or whatever.

In the first instance, the national emergency co-ordination group has been meeting in response to the severe weather situation. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. We are experiencing a period of extremely cold weather. It has settled over Ireland, with severe frost, freezing fog, ice, wintry showers and the fall of snow. The national directorate for fire and emergency management crisis management team has been meeting daily since Friday, 2 December, liaising closely with Met Éireann, and the national emergency co-ordination group was convened and has been meeting daily since Sunday to assess the national and local preparedness in light of the forecast prolonged period of extreme cold weather. The group will continue to meet for the duration of this weather event.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who is sitting here beside me, was at that meeting on Sunday. He is wide awake and was wide awake throughout the weekend in respect of this issue. In particular, he met representatives of the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA. Issues with the DAA that the Deputy raised do need to be followed through with the authority. We need to make sure that capacity exists within the DAA in terms of de-icing and preparing for extreme weather events to make sure that key connectivity through aviation is maintained. State agencies are established by law, they are resourced and people are appointed to senior positions. There is an obligation on the agencies to be prepared and respond to situations such as this. That said, Dublin Airport is not the only airport that has had challenges through this period. Manchester Airport has had challenges and Heathrow Airport has had significant challenges, some of which have spilled over to Dublin Airport.

More broadly across the transport sector, the local authority severe weather assessment teams are monitoring the situation and co-ordinating responses. Winter plans are now in operation. Widespread gritting has happened and will continue. Transport Infrastructure Ireland is also involved. Sufficient salt is available across the country to facilitate work particularly on our more dangerous minor roads. We urge the public to be very careful when travelling on our roads in these dangerous times. Transport Infrastructure Ireland has taken significant measures well in advance to ensure adequate stores of salt for the season - approximately 200,000 tonnes. It has a framework available to deal with anything worse.

On the homelessness situation, local authority outreach teams are continuing to engage with rough sleepers and are encouraging them to avail of indoor shelter. Regarding schools, there has been constant co-ordination between the group and our education system.

I reassure the Deputy that the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is not asleep at the wheel.

He is asleep a lot of the time.

I know he gets Deputy Healy-Rae excited every now and again for different reasons.

He has the Taoiseach dangling on a string.

As a Cabinet colleague, with the range of legislation, initiatives and strategic plans the Minister has brought through in the last month at least, I can definitely assure the House that he is anything but fast asleep at this juncture.

He would want to be defrosted.

Sorry?

He would want to be de-iced, himself.

Deputy Mattie McGrath has shared with us that he would want to be defrosted.

When people again see scenes of delay and cancellations in Dublin Airport there is a real concern over the ongoing lack of preparedness. I accept that the Dublin Airport Authority and the airlines have a case to answer here, but ultimately public confidence will be built only if there is a sense that the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, actually has a plan. I accept that others have met and made contingency arrangements during a snap of very hard cold weather. This close to Christmas, with so many people coming home, we need public reassurance that the Minister is fully engaged. I ask the Taoiseach to give more detail of that. He said there was a meeting with the Dublin Airport Authority. What was the upshot of that? Dublin Airport is not the only airport on the island, but it is the key hub airport.

For a long time, some local residents have sought a meeting with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, in respect of a change to flight patterns outside of the planning permission that had been granted. If he is, as the Taoiseach claims, wide awake, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, could he do these residents the good grace of meeting them?

The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, met the DAA in the context of the meeting on Sunday with the national emergency co-ordination group. They had a discussion in respect of the preparedness of the DAA and the issues that arise because of the very severe weather we are experiencing. Bhuail an tAire, an Teachta Darragh O’Brien, leis an DAA Dé Domhnaigh seo caite. Táim sásta go bhfuil gach aon iarracht á dhéanamh ní hamháin ag an DAA ach ag bardais áitiúla ar fud na tíre agus ag an TII chun a bheith réidh agus go mbeidh gach aon áis ann chun cabhair agus tacaíocht a thabhairt do na húdaráis ar fud na tíre agus do mhuintir na tíre. Iarraim ar an bpobal a bheith cúramach agus iad ag taisteal timpeall na tíre le linn na drochaimsire seo.

Cá bhfuil an tAire, an Teachta Eamon Ryan?

Tá an tAire, an Teachta O’Brien, i gceannas-----

I did not ask about an tAire, Deputy O’Brien. We will come to him later. Where is the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan?

-----ar an gcomhoibriú idir na seirbhísí éigeandála. Tá sé ag déileáil leis an Aire, an Teachta Eamon Ryan, chomh maith. Beidh mé ag caint leis an Aire, an Teachta Ryan, agus déarfaidh mé leis go bhfuil an Teachta McDonald á lorg.