Minister accused of being ‘asleep at the wheel’ over Dublin Airport travel chaos

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan has been accused of being “asleep at the wheel again” over his “failure” to get to grips with travel chaos at Dublin Airport.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald also said there is “real concern” amongst the public following delays and cancellations at the airport due to the cold snap, adding there is an “ongoing lack of preparedness”.

During Leaders’ Questions in the Dail on Tuesday, the Dublin Central TD said: “There’s been serious frustration, confusion and a sense of ‘here we go again’.

“Now I appreciate that a spell of extreme cold weather presents challenges, a shock, and I also accept that there have been some knock-on effects from disruption at other airports.

“However, we cannot shy away from the fact that once again, there has been a real failure to prepare Dublin Airport and not a word from Minister Ryan. Not a word from Government.”

Ms McDonald claimed the lessons of the summer had been “unlearned”.

She added: “In the summer the failure to plan at Dublin Airport brought chaos and the situation, as you recall, spiralled out of control because Minister Ryan failed to get to grips with the crisis. And now it seems that Minister Ryan is asleep at the wheel again.”

She repeated her point in the Irish language, saying Mr Ryan was “in a codladh arís” – as she called for the Government to be proactive and intervene in the situation.

In response, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said: “Could I reassure the deputy that Eamon Ryan is not asleep at the wheel. He’s very, very active… I can definitely assure the House that he is anything but fast asleep at this particular juncture.”

Mr Martin told the Dail the National Emergency Co-ordination Team has been meeting daily since Sunday in response to the severe weather, and will continue to do so until conditions improve.

The Fianna Fail leader also said there is an obligation on the Dublin Airport Authority to be prepared and respond to extreme weather events, but he added that Dublin was not the only airport facing “challenges” due to the cold snap.

The Cork South Central TD said winter plans are now in operation and there is a sufficiency of salt available across the country for roads.

“We urge the public to be very, very careful out there in respect of travel on our roads in these dangerous times and Transport Infrastructure Ireland has taken significant measures well in advance in terms of adequate stores of salt for the season, approximately 200,000 tonnes, and they have a framework available to deal with anything worse,” he said.

He added that local charity outreach teams are continuing to engage with rough sleepers and encouraging them to use indoor shelters.