Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-08
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Joe Conway (IND), Cultural and Educational Panel

I want to augment what Senator Higgins was saying. I recall when it became almost moderately fashionable to go to places in the Middle East, like Dubai, Doha, and so on. Neighbours with children out there would come back and say they do not know how people live out there, that it was 36°C and hit 40°C once. The fact is that right now, places that are heavily serviced by aircraft, including Spain, Portugal, Italy, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily, are almost burning at the moment. It is a harbinger of what will become of us, in prosperous Europe, in the next few years, if we do not take our responsibilities seriously. One of the great offenders is the airline industry and the untrammelled regulation of the airlines. As a matter of interest, if one bought 10,000 Ryanair shares at Christmas 2023, those shares would now have increased in value by 91%. That is an indication of the money that is being made in the airline industry, and that is just one airline.
We have really serious questions to ask and I commend Senator Higgins on exposing that. I do not think she or the House are being alarmist, but there is more to Dublin Airport and the economy of the country than simply putting it all on the altar of Mammon.

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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