Separate incidents of theft and assault by airport staff at Dublin Airport has sparked Irish police (Gardaí) to carry out investigations.
The first incident that police were alerted to occurred on the evening of April 25, 2022 when a passenger was allegedly attacked by an airport worker during an altercation, as reported by Dublin Live.
Investigations showed that a staff member hired to help usher crowds through the airport became involved in a scuffle with a passenger, whom the worker knew and was in dispute with over a personal matter.
It is believed that the worker involved in the incident is not a direct employee of Dublin Airport and worked for a third party company operating at the airport.
The Irish Times reports that in recent weeks Dublin Airport had been inundated with lengthy delays and long queues due to security staff shortage. As a result, a large number of new staff have been recruited, directly and via third party contractors as passenger numbers continue to increase as post-pandemic global travel steadily resumes.
Two other unrelated and separate incidents of theft have been reported to the police involving newly-hired airport staff members. A passenger’s laptop was allegedly stolen from a carry-on bag, while the other incident involved the alleged theft of perfume from a shop inside the airport.
“While we don’t comment on individual cases, DAA takes all accusations of theft extremely seriously and will conduct a fair and unbiased investigation into any such incidents,” a spokesperson for Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) told the Irish Times.