Paul Murphy: DAA job cuts blamed for Dublin Airport chaos
Paul Murphy accused DAA management of slashing staff numbers, wages and conditions and blamed the minister for allowing cuts that he says produced chaos at Dublin Airport. He argued the DAA used the pandemic to push through a 'shock doctrine' and said he had warned the Government repeatedly.
Accusation of management decisions
Murphy said the chaos at Dublin Airport was the consequence of DAA management choosing to slash staff numbers, wages and conditions, taking advantage of the pandemic to drive through what he called a shock doctrine.
Criticism of the minister
He criticised the minister for being 'asleep at the wheel', saying the minister knew the DAA were using the pandemic as an excuse to cut workers and is allowing them to be replaced with staff on low wages and poor contracts.
Committee evidence and prior warnings
Murphy recalled that the CEO of the DAA, Dalton Phillips, appeared before a committee in July 2020. He said he had spoken out multiple times in the Dáil and that he and colleagues had challenged the CEO over a short-sighted, profit-driven agenda and warned the Government about the risks for two years.
Operational consequences at the airport
He said the result of the cuts has been serious staff shortages, massive queues and thousands of passengers missing their flights. Murphy insisted the Government has no excuse for the situation and reiterated that warnings were ignored.
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The chaos that we've seen at Dublin Airport is the consequence of DAA management choosing to slash staff numbers, wages and conditions, taking advantage of the pandemic to drive through a shock doctrine. We have been warning the Government about this for the last two years, but Minister Ryan was asleep at the wheel. Two years ago, when the DAA announced plans to sack hundreds of workers, I spoke out multiple times in the Dáil, warning that this would be disastrous. We had the CEO of DAA, Dalton Phillips, in a committee in July 2020. Again, we challenged them about their short-sighted, profit-driven agenda. The Government has no excuse. Minister Ryan knew that the DAA were using the pandemic as an excuse to cut workers and are now trying to replace them with workers on low wages and poor contracts. The Minister let them away with it. The result is serious staff shortages, massive queues and thousands of people missing their flights. Thank you.
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