Ireland: Aviation staff checks may hinder airport operations - airlines

About 40,000 air travel workers face extra background security checks this year under new laws that came into force last month. The Government implemented a new EU directive requiring tougher background checks on those working in aviation, and candidates for jobs in the industry, on January 1st this year. As a result, an estimated 35,000-42,000 staff in the business face extra Garda checks on their backgrounds to ensure they can continue working in airlines and airports. Pilots, cabin crew, ground handling staff and many other groups of aviation workers need special identity passes issued following background checks that include establishing if they have criminal convictions. Workers must renew these passes every year and a special unit of An Garda Síochána carries out the checks. EU directive 2019/103 requires “enhanced” checks, normally carried out by states’ security or intelligence services, for all aviation workers. According to the Department of Transport, the new checks apply to anyone with access to the secure area of an airport, or anybody with an airport ID badge. That includes “airline crew or those working in cargo or supplying aircraft”, the department said. The new rules call for the disclosure of criminal records for the past five years, and employment and education, along with any gaps in either, over the same period. Aer Lingus and Emerald Airlines both warned at the weekend that if gardaí did not speed up the time taken to carry out the enhanced checks on new applicants, it could pose problems as the carriers step up hiring ahead of summer.<br/>