Army on standby to tackle staff shortages at Dublin Airport

Irish Defence Forces are officially on standby from today to help in the event of a Covid outbreak among airport security staff.

The army will be installed if more than 20 per cent of airport security staff are unable to work due to Covid. Foreign Minister Simon Coveney had previously described the deployment of the army to Dublin Airport as a “last resort“, and not a situation he was happy with.  Conor King, General Secretary of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) also said the forces should not be relied upon, calling the decision “another example of the Defence Forces being used as emergency cover to compensate for management decisions in other state bodies”.

The six-week emergency plan is aimed at preventing flight cancellations and reducing long queues during the summer holiday season, and will see members of the Defence Forces on standby from from July 6th to August 15th.

Last week, Dublin Airport staff warned DAA bosses that they would refuse to work alongside, or help train, members of the army brought in to work at the airport.

Over the last few months, Dublin Airport has come under fire as security queues resulted in more than 1,000 passengers missing their flights in May, with flight cancellations affecting those flying in and out of Dublin too.

Header image via Shutterstock 

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