Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2023
455. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated current costs if his officials were present in the passenger terminal at Dublin Airport between the hours of 8am and 10pm, seven days a week. [32355/23]
View answerOfficials from my Department are available between the hours of 7:30am and 9:00pm, Monday to Sunday at Dublin Airport. They provide a range of essential services from inspecting imported animals and commodities to carrying out compliance checks on pets.
Senior Officials from my Department continually review the services provided by import controls staff at Dublin Airport. There are currently no plans to extend the operating hours. To do so would require an increase in staff numbers, to accommodate increased hours of service across a 7 day week roster. The current hours are considered cost effective based on existing demand.
I am advised that there have been a very small number of instances where pets have arrived outside the hours of operation. Persons travelling with pets are obliged to provide advance notification of arrival to my Department, to ensure the necessary checks can be arranged. Persons travelling with pets are advised to arrive within the hours of 7.30 am and 9 pm. Where arrivals occur outside these core hours, arrangements are in place to enable the compliance checks to be carried out using an on-call service provided by a private contractor.
