In February of this year, I introduced on a pilot basis, a project of civilianisation of certain port of entry functions at Dublin Airport. Until the start of the pilot, immigration controls at ports of entry were carried out solely by members of An Garda Síochána appointed as immigration officers. The purpose of the pilot is to test the feasibility of a new model for delivery of immigration services at ports of entry to the State by using a combination of civilian staff and members of An Garda Síochána. As I stated in my reply to Dáil Question No. 171 of 4th October, 2012, the pilot has been a success in demonstrating the feasibility of the new model and the experience and learning from the pilot will form the basis for proposals to extend the model on a full scale basis to Dublin Airport, and possibly in due course to other ports of entry to the State.
For the pilot, invitations for expression of interest were invited from serving Clerical Officers (CO) and Executive Officers (EO) from across the Department of Justice and Equality. A short-listing of interested candidates followed by an interview with those short-listed was carried out and a panel of suitable candidates at EO and CO level was established. I am informed that one individual made a complaint regarding their failure to be short-listed. Department of Finance Circulars 43/75 and 30/1990 set out the provisions as regards credit for proficiency in both Irish and English in confined promotion competitions. Since promotions were not involved in the assignments to the airport, the terms of these circulars did not apply. It should be noted that staff on the pilot who are currently deployed at Pier B in Terminal One operate a standard day between the hours of 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday. Accordingly, questions of additional core pay, allowances, shift patterns, etc. do not arise. These are, of course, matters under consideration as part of the rollout of the overall project including discussions with the relevant representative bodies in due course.
The Deputy will appreciate that matters of airport security are a matter, in the first instance, for the Airport authorities under the policy direction of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.
