Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal has stated that it is clear the civilianisation of border duties at Dublin Airport have been successful thus far, following a visit to Dublin Airport by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald to review the progress of the civilian immigration and border control arrangements.
“I am pleased that phase one of the civilianisation of immigration and border control at Dublin Airport has been completed. These arrangements are positive for a number of reasons, particularly as they free up members of An Garda Síochána to carry out frontline policing duties. In fact, the number of Gardaí stationed at Dublin Airport has reduced from 120 in 2008 to just over 60 today
“Phase one of this process at Dublin Airport has been completed, meaning that uniformed civilian immigration officers are now operational in Terminal 1 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. However, as the civilianisation of immigration services at Dublin Airport continues, Gardaí will maintain their role in the policing and intelligence aspects of border control.
“I am glad that the civilianisation process will continue at the Airport over the coming months with civilian immigration officers due to take over further immigration duties in Terminal 2 in October. The full civilianisation programme will be completed as soon as possible following this and this will free-up an additional 20 Gardaí to carry out core policing duties. Overall, this programme will reduce the cost of immigration functions at the Airport from €7 million to roughly €3 million.
“The success of this programme thus far is particularly evident given the average queue time for Irish and EU passengers was 3 minutes while, for those from outside the EU it was 5 minutes, even though there was a 19% growth in the number of passengers passing through Terminal 1 this summer.”