Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-08
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Joanne Collins (SF), Agricultural Panel

I move amendment No. 4:
In page 8, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following:
“Community engagement obligations
7. (1) The Minister direct the daa to establish a formal mechanism for ongoing and meaningful engagement with local communities affected by airport operations, including those impacted by the north runway.
(2) The Minister shall open a public consultation concerning daa’s engagement with local communities and lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas no later than 12 months following commencement of this Act.”.
This amendment is more or less around community engagement. I know there are plenty of groups that have been set up around Dublin Airport. We have met many of them throughout our time on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport. However, we have been told and many have said that they sometimes feel ignored when decisions are made affecting Dublin Airport. This amendment, therefore, requires the DAA to establish meaningful and ongoing engagement and maybe more than what is already happening. If people are still feeling like they are being ignored, I do not see the harm in having something in place to ensure they are informed at stages when this moves or when more changes have to come into effect, particularly residents impacted by the north runway. It also requires the Minister to consult publicly and report back to the Oireachtas. Good engagement should not be an afterthought. It should be the core of how major national infrastructure operates, and it does. Public engagement does stop those delays when communities put in objections. I find that if we keep people on board and engage and make sure they are listened to and that their points are taken on board, it can save an awful lot of heartache in the end.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-08/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:10+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-08