So much for airport security

Victor

http://www.thepost.ie/web/DocumentView/did-277230765-pageUrl--2FHome.asp

Revealed: flights home by tax exiles not monitored
01/02/04 00:00
By Barry O 'Kelly

Flights home by Irish tax exiles though Dublin Airport's private aircraft terminal are not being monitored, an investigation by The Sunday Business Post has revealed.

The exiles include entrepreneur Denis O'Brien, whose visits on his Gulf Stream jet were not recorded during 2000, the year he scooped €292 million from the sale of Esat Telecom. He was registered as a non-resident at the time.

The tycoon's residency status saved him - and cost the taxpayer - over €50 million.

O'Brien (45) was entitled to claim he was not resident in Ireland for tax purposes if he remained out of Ireland for a minimum of 183 days during the year.

Informed sources at Dublin Airport revealed this weekend that there are scant records of visits into the country by other exiles.

Leading tax exiles who pass through the private terminal include Michael Smurfit, Tony O'Reilly, JP McManus and Dermot Desmond.

Each of the wealthy businessmen legally avoids paying millions of euro in tax to the Revenue Commissioners by availing of revenue law provisions allowing them not to be resident here for tax purposes.

"Manifests can be sought from the company that owns the aircraft, but these are disposed of after a week," a source said.

There is no suggestion that any of the exiles breached the restrictions on the amount of time that a person can spend in Ireland if he or she wishes to maintain tax exile status. However, the lack of records concerning visits home has highlighted a glaring weakness in the monitoring of tax exiles.

"There are no records of various individuals who passed through the north terminal [which handles flights in and out by private planes]," an airport official said.

"It is the first port of call in an audit, yet there were no records held."

When asked about the monitoring of trips through the terminal, the source added: "Records were kept of all of the flight details, including the departure and arrival times, the flight path, the number of passengers, the owner of the craft - except the most crucial details of all, the names of the passengers."

There is no legal obligation on the airport owners or the company that runs the private plane terminal to record the identities of people travelling through the airport. However, the Revenue has wide-ranging surveillance powers, which are believed to include the authority to monitor airport terminals as part of any investigation. An official at the company that runs the private air terminal said last week:

"We actually comply with the regulations." When asked if it was the role of customs or his company to record the names of passengers, the official said: "I could not comment on that one way or the other at all." On the subject of whether or not the company had a right to record such names, he said: "In certain cases we do, in certain cases we don't . . .we get a manifest . . . we get certain details that we keep for our own records."

The official declined to comment on the lack of records concerning flights into the airport bearing specific individuals. The high-profile tax exiles may have been oblivious to the lack of monitoring. A source said that aircraft "sometimes circled over the airport for an extra five or ten minutes so that they touched down after midnight. This would have given anyone on board an extra day here under the tax rules".

A Revenue spokesman said: "We cannot comment on individual cases. "We are entitled to make inquiries on any [tax] return or statement from any taxpayer, including people claiming non-residency status. "These types of inquiries are entirely on the basis of indicators of risk. We operate on the presumption of honesty on the part of the claimant."

BrianD

What has this got to with airport security?

Victor

Originally posted by BrianD
What has this got to with airport security?

They appear not to know who comes and goes from "air side".

BendiBus

The airport authorities might not have a record of who's been through but private international flights require 'special branch clearance'. So the security services (the real ones, not the joeys that work for Aer Rianta) know who's coming & going.

Osama Bin Laden can't just fly into DUB and walk out the back gate! :ninja:

sceptre

Originally posted by BendiBus
Osama Bin Laden can't just fly into DUB and walk out the back gate! :ninja:

He probably can if he steals Denis O'Brien's plane first

ZENER

Airport security deal with passangers boarding planes and general security of the terminal building and lands and going airside, customs and the Gardai etc. deal with people arriving at the airport from foriegn countries.

The security services - the joeys if you prefer - have no powers to deal with tax exiles unless they pose a threat to the airport !

Tinky

BrianD

The point is that the authorities don't routinely log air passengers going through the airport on regular flights (apart from the american airlines) so why would they track the VIP. I surmise that these individuals using private jets would have to pass through some sort of border control upon arrival/departure. The main thrust of airport security is to prevent an incident involving a commercial airliner - hijack or bombing.

ZENER

That depends on who you consider to be the "authorities". American airlines keep the same records of passangers on their planes as Aer Lingus which can be provided to Gardai/Police etc. on request.

Passangers on private craft go through the same passport checks and customs checks as passanger aircraft from aer lingus etc. The only exception here would be diplomats travelling to Ireland i.e. EU diplomats.

Tinky

BrianD

American airlines pass all passenger booking info to the US authorities. This is why various BA and Air France flights have been grounded.

ZENER

This will probably become the norm here too in the next year or so. There is the case that the handlers here will also have access to these lists for American flights though.

Security has really tightened up at the Airport since 9/11, even staff are subject to searches and xray. A workmate of mine was recently reprimanded for allowing another staff member through a secure door without insisting that she use her swipe card !

I guess it's not too far-sighted to think that the Gardai/Immigration authorities will demand similar lists to the US guys.

Tinky

BrianD

I recently missed a flight because of very thorough security checks at the boarding gate closest to the A gates. Anybody wearing metal glasses seemed to set off the metal detector and was subject to a pat down.

ZENER

I sympathise with you on that one, every day I see people being frisked down and searched at the security posts at the A & B boarding areas. The staff at these posts are not members of Airport Police but individuals on a power trip imo. They are, in genereal, incapable of courtesy or manners.

There was a case recently where one of the Airport Search Unit (ASU) staff refused to permit a passanger to pass because he wore a Glasgow Rangers shirt - said it might incite a row on the plane !! The passanger took the case further and the staff member was dismissed. Talk about being over zelous and perhaps discriminative in their approach.

Airlines advise passanger to arrive at least 1.5 hours before departure times to ensure they get their flight. I think the queing system to get airside is a joke and always reminds me of that scene from Shrek!

At the end of the day though its the price we must pay for being safe on flights.

Tinky

Victor

Tinky, could you explain to people the different functions of the various security types at airports, i.e. Garda (and Army in the ATCP role), Airport Police, Airport Search Unit, Airline Security, Customs, Immigration (are these Gardaí?) and foreign liaison staff.

Obviously nothing that isn't public domain.

ZENER

Firstly I'm not an employee or member of any of
the following organisations so the info may not
be 100% accurate.

Airport Police:

Security of the airport lands and buildings.
Patrols of perimeter of airport.
Airside access posts (soon to taken by ASU)
Administration of security access passes and doors.
K9 patrols
Covert Surveillence.
CCTV monitoring.
Traffic flow ie clamping of illegally parked vehicles.
Training of staff on security awareness.
Foot and car patrols.
Security checks of staff.
Taxi passes and background checks.
Public order within the airport.
Alarm monitoring.


Airport Search Unit:

Passanger verification ie boarding pass checks.
Passanger frisking and search and sieze.
Baggage X-Ray and search.


The Gardai provide a minimal presence at the airport
and are there to provide general law and order functions
and arrest suspects caught by airport police.

Airline Security:

Private security firm (ICTS I think) employed by the american airlines like Delta, Continentaland US Airways etc. There powers are limited to the aircrafts security.

Immigration are part of the Gardai - their function is well known. US immigration is also present for intending passanger to the US. These are members of the American Immigration department and are american citizens.

The army are rarely at the airport except to provide additional
security when presidents are arriving or to provide radar
surveillence as was the case a couple of weeks ago for the EU presidency.

Customs' function is well known. They prevent the import of illegal substances
and weapons by employing K9 searches and hand searches of luggage as it comes from
a plane. They have a large presence at the terminal.

Foriegn liason is handled by the Protocol Department which consistes of Aer Rianta
staff members specifically chosen for the task.

Hope this helps !
Tinky

Victor

Originally posted by tinky
Airport Search Unit

Are these effectively just private security personnel employed by Aer Rianta, without the power of the Airport Police?

Originally posted by tinky
The Gardai provide a minimal presence at the airport and are there to provide general law and order functions and arrest suspects caught by airport police.

Oh, I thought they had a fair sized presence, certainly back when the Bank of Ireland was robbed there were lots of red faces as all the Special Branches guys had gone to their "home" stations for a shift change and the next bunch hadn't arrived. Essentially they worked all week in the airport, but claimed expenses of travelling from their station to the airport.

Originally posted by tinky
US immigration is also present for intending passanger to the US. These are members of the American Immigration department and are american citizens.

Apparently not all are American, certainly in Shannon some were Irish. departmetn of Homeland Security amy have changed that though.

Originally posted by tinky
Foriegn liason is handled by the Protocol Department which consistes of Aer Rianta staff members specifically chosen for the task.

Sorry, I was hinting at the slightly questionable practice of sometimes having foreign security staff here.

ZENER

Are these effectively just private security personnel employed by Aer Rianta, without the power of the Airport Police?

They're employees of Aer Rianta and are trained inhouse by ex airport police staff and out side instructors in the company's training centre.

Oh, I thought they had a fair sized presence, certainly back when the Bank of Ireland was robbed there were lots of red faces as all the Special Branches guys had gone to their "home" stations for a shift change and the next bunch hadn't arrived. Essentially they worked all week in the airport, but claimed expenses of travelling from their station to the airport.

I think there are about 3 uniformed gardai in the airport at any one time although for the duration of the EU Presidency there are a lot more. Recently a large building at the airport has been taken over by customs and a plain clothes branch of the gardai probably branch and there seems to be a strong presence now. I think they are based in Santry.

Apparently not all are American, certainly in Shannon some were Irish. departmetn of Homeland Security amy have changed that though.

To be honest I dont have a lot of contact during the course of my job but any time I,ve been in their department all the accents and attitudes have been American so I assumed they were all American.

Sorry, I was hinting at the slightly questionable practice of sometimes having foreign security staff here.

My apologies ! The only time I've ever been in contact with these people was in the 80's when an American president came here on a visit. For some reason they didn't think I was suitable to be part of the preparations for the visit ! They weren't armed as I recall but practically took over the whole Link building of the airport and were involved in vetting staff with the airport police at the time.

Tinky