Members of the Defence Forces will be on standby to ease pressures at Dublin Airport from tomorrow, but the move has been branded ‘pure exploitation’ by a TD and former Army Ranger.
Last week the Cabinet signed off on a request from the DAA, which operates the airport, to put the Army on standby for six weeks to deal with Covid-related staff shortages.
Independent TD for Kildare South Cathal Berry, a former Defence Forces member with 23 years of service, said the airport should have looked to the private sector to address the issue.
He added: ‘It’s probably more than a contingency plan at this stage because troops from all over the country have been moved to Dublin, so the plan is live.
‘Whether they’re called out or not it doesn’t matter, they’re on station now, which is madness.’ He also said he hasn’t seen ‘any evidence that the DAA has exhausted all their resources’.
Mr Berry added: ‘If they have exhausted all of their resources then it’s a job for a private security firm; the reason they’re not doing that is if they can hire the Army then they can do the job for a fraction of the cost. It’s pure exploitation, really. They’ve never been used in this capacity before to bail out a private entity.
‘And the staffing levels in the Defence Forces are twice as bad; if anything it should be the DAA bailing out the Defence Forces, not the other way around.’The deployment of the forces on Vehicle Control Posts, or VCP, would see current VCP workers redeployed to security posts.
Speaking to
He said: ‘PDFORRA believe a payment equating to that paid to members who deployed during the pandemic would be appropriate. This is a modest ask given the extra time, duties and responsibilities that members are being asked to undertake.’
There were rising concerns among airport workers about the possibility of training, or working alongside, members of the Defence Forces, prompting workers’ union SIPTU to meet with DAA management on Friday.
SIPTU aviation sector organiser Niall Phillips said: ‘During the meeting, clarifications and commitments were given in relation to several issues of importance to our members.
The contingency plan is specifically Covid-related. At no time will our members in VCP be asked, or required, to work alongside Defence Force members or to train them.
Virgin Media News yesterday, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Simon Coveney said: ‘As of now, the Defence Forces are available on standby until August 14. The cost of this, in terms of extra allowances that the Defence Forces will be due, will be paid by the DAA.’
Gerard Guinan, general secretary of the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association (PDFORRA), believes that while members will ‘do their duties as demanded by the Government’, there remains a clear disparity over pay and other benefits.
The DAA has put in place alternative arrangements for the training.’ Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Phillips said that while Dublin Airport staff will not be training the Defence Forces, additional training will be provided by members of other airports.
The airport is facing scathing criticism for cancelled flights, major security delays and missing baggage, with a number of Aer Lingus flights being cancelled.
Yesterday, eight flights to Rome, Berlin, Manchester and Zurich were cancelled, and the airline cited staff illness as the cause. It comes as Ryanair announced that last month was its busiest June in history, with 15.9million passengers flying with the airline.
The plan, which will arise if 20 per cent of security personnel are absent due to Covid-related illness, would see members deployed on the perimeter of the airfield.