The operator of Dublin Airport has told the Minister for Transport that they cannot guarantee that what happened at the airport last weekend will not happen again.

There were chaotic scenes at the airport on Sunday, with lengthy queues inside and outside the two terminal buildings, resulting in more than 1,400 passengers missing flights.

Minister Eamon Ryan said the message to the daa is that it has an obligation to do everything in its power to prevent last Sunday's events being repeated and it will get Government backing on this.

He called on the daa to very quickly get more staff and to manage the airport to make sure the events of last Sunday "doesn't happen again at the weekend" or during the summer period.

It comes after the Government asked the daa to clearly communicate to the public within 24 hours how it plans to fix problems at the airport ahead of the June bank holiday weekend.

Yesterday, Government ministers instructed daa to come up with solutions that can be put in place in advance of the weekend.

Minister Ryan and the Minister of State with responsibility for International Transport gave daa 24 hours to report back.

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The daa Group Head of Communications said every available resource will be called upon for the June bank holiday weekend to ensure Dublin Airport does not "trip over again".

Kevin Cullinane said airport management outlined to the Government "the core tenets of the plan to be unveiled" aimed at resolving the long queues.

He said daa hopes to be in a position to release the measures soon after lunchtime tomorrow.

Asked if the plan will prevent similar scenes to those on Sunday, Mr Cullinane said "that has been the singular focus of management really since last weekend, trying to understand the root cause of why it happened and obviously to avoid any repeat going forward".

The proposed queue management improvements will include triaging people as they arrive at the airport to establish who can go directly to security and who requires the check-in and bag drop facilities.

Some workers will be redeployed from others areas of the airport to support security screening staff, in particular for this weekend.

'Staff are doing their utmost under very difficult circumstances'

SIPTU representatives met the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton, today regarding delays at Dublin Airport.

The union says it highlighted the impact of inferior pay and conditions of employment for new daa staff as a key factor in the current problems.

"We told the Minister of State that staff are doing their utmost under very difficult circumstances at Dublin Airport. Many are reporting being abused and in some cases, spat at by frustrated passengers," said SIPTU Sector Organiser, Niall Phillips.

"The Minister of State was told that staffing levels cannot be ramped up easily because the pay and conditions for many new daa workers are not attractive for the very specialised work they carry out," he added.

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This morning, Mr Ryan and Ms Naughton were briefed on the plan by daa Chief Executive Dalton Phillips and other senior officials.

In a joint statement this afternoon, the ministers said "daa advised on their plan to improve queue management, maximise the availability of staffing resources, and increase the number of security lanes at peak times".

An update was also given on how daa intend to compensate passengers who have missed flights.

However, the airport management indicated that "they are currently finalising operational arrangements".

As a result, the ministers have asked that daa "clearly communicate their plan, within the next 24 hours, to deliver a satisfactory experience for passengers departing from the airport this bank holiday weekend".

The ministers will also continue to engage with daa on a daily basis.

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'What happened was not acceptable'

Meanwhile, the Public Expenditure Minister has warned daa that the events at the airport last weekend must never be repeated.

Michael McGrath said what happened was not acceptable and it cannot be allowed to happen again.

Speaking in the Dáil he said that passengers will have to know "exactly what is ahead of them" so that they can plan properly ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend.

The minister called on the daa to clearly communicate its plan and he said the authority should answer detailed questions at the Oireachtas Committee on Transport tomorrow.

He was responding to the Sinn Féin Leader, who accused the Government of failing to plan for the recovery of the tourism sector after the pandemic.

Mary Lou McDonald described what happened at Dublin Airport as a nightmare and the events had damaged Ireland's reputation as a place for investment, she said.

Dublin Airport is at only 70% staffing capacity and what happened on Sunday was entirely "foreseeable," Ms McDonald said.

She said the Minister for Transport's response was "a day late and a dollar short."

Dublin Airport staff tell of abuse by some passengers

Co-leader of the Social Democrats Catherine Murphy said the conditions of the jobs on offer at Dublin Airport are "unattractive".

Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, Ms Murphy said that those who are being recruited are expected to be available 40 hours a week, but are only guaranteed 30 hours.

"This kind of arrangement, the flexibility is all on one side and it makes it unattractive and then you've got to ask is that the kind of employment that's sustainable into the future," she said.

Speaking on the same programme, Enda Corneille, Ireland country manager for Emirates, said the airline has had to postpone plans to expand capacity because of staff shortages at Dublin Airport.

Mr Corneille said staff shortages at the airport are "not confined to security" and that catering and baggage handling are also short staffed.

He said: "We were hoping to double our capacity to a double daily in the summer, but we're having to prepare for September because none of our providers were able to give us certainty they could deliver for our customers, again it was down to staff, so this is not something that will be fixed very easily."

The daa has confirmed that passengers who missed flights as a result of long queues can claim any out-of-pocket expenses they subsequently had to pay.

This will include costs incurred in changing flights, such as any overnight accommodation needed if flights were missed, and related taxi or other transport costs to and from hotels.

Affected passengers can make a claim by emailing customerservice@dublinairport.com, with the daa hoping to have a claims form online soon.

Yesterday, Minister Ryan said the daa must know the reputational damage done to the airport and the country.

He said "that cannot be added to by them not providing proper compensation to people who lost flights."

This comes after security staff at the airport spoke of the aggression they faced from some members of the public during the long delays.

Additional reporting Fergal O'Brien