Ample Customs presence at airport

THERE is a danger that people may get the wrong impression from your recent piece “Row over airport customs” (Irish Examiner, March 9).

I would appreciate the opportunity to spell out the exact situation regarding Customs coverage of Cork Airport.

The piece states, quite accurately, that Cork Airport operates between 5.30am and midnight and that there are six Customs officers at the airport, rostered from 7am to 11pm.

What it fails to point out is the fact that there are 13 additional officers available to augment these numbers.

These additional officers are not rostered and are therefore not confined to the 7am to 11pm work period.

They operate seven days a week on a risk analysis basis. They are available to augment the permanent staff from 7am to 11pm or to work on their own outside of those hours.

These facts were set out in the replies from the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen TD to Ruairí Quinn TD, to which the piece referred.

The public can rest assured that Cork Airport is covered from a Customs perspective during all hours that it is operational.

Dave Coleman

Senior Press Officer

Revenue Commissioners

Dublin Castle

Dublin 2