Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-08
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Darragh O'Brien (FF), Dublin Fingal East

I am not accepting amendments Nos. 10, 11 or 12. I thank the Senator for tabling them. I am empowered to make an order where I am of the opinion that the passenger cap planning condition is causing serious harm to the economy. I make no bones about that; I do not think it is a problem. I would have thought it a responsibility I would have, to be honest. Similarly, where I see there is a problem with international connectivity, that is stating the obvious and should be the case, as Minister for Transport, or the State's international reputation in air transport. That is very clearly set out and I would stand over all three of them every day of the week.
Senator Higgins also suggested I should be of the opinion that the passenger cap planning condition is causing harm to the State's obligation under national, EU or international law relating to climate change or the State's obligation under the Paris Agreement. She further suggested the Climate Change Advisory Council should issue a recommendation to amend the passenger cap, where it is of the opinion that it is likely to cause harm to the State's ability to meet its national climate objective.
I will say again that under the legislation, I am clearly mandated - and have mandated - for a full environmental impact assessment to be carried out in line with the EIA directive - and it is absolutely in line with that - which would identify, describe and assess the direct and indirect effects of making an order on several factors, including climate, and would be independently undertaken not by me, but by An Coimisiún Pleanála, prior to the making of the order. I have also made it clear that even though, and this is a fact, international aviation emissions are outside the scope of the climate action plan, we are taking actions aligned with the global approach to decarbonisation of the aviation industry, which is based on the International Civil Aviation Organization's basket of measures to ensure aviation meets the challenges of decarbonisation. That includes several things, such as airlines continuing to adopt new or more efficient aircraft, more efficient use of fuel, quieter aircraft, mandated increased use of SAF at EU level under the EU refuel aviation regulation and the EU emissions trading scheme, to name but a few, as well as the CORSIA scheme at international level.
I am not disapplying the Act at all in relation to the environmental impact assessment; that is actually being done. The climate Act does not apply anyway, so there is nothing to disapply. The reality is the environmental impact assessments will be undertaken by An Coimisiún Pleanála and not by me, and that is the appropriate place for that to be.
Overall, there is no denying the situation the world is in right now. We are way above the 1.5°C and are probably projecting a 2.3°C increase in temperatures, which is extremely worrying. However, in Ireland in the past three years we have been able to decouple emissions growth from economic growth. That is a very significant thing. We are back to pre-1990 levels of emissions in this country, and with 1.5 million more people here. Emissions are continuing to drop as the economy and population continue to grow.
Are we going to get to our 2030 climate targets? No, but we are going to get close to them and we will try to bridge that gap, particularly through energy and the acceleration of renewable energy sources. In the first few months of this year, 50% or thereabouts of our electricity was generated from renewable sources. How are we going to accelerate that? By doing things like I and Senator Noonan did in the previous Government, that is, the Planning and Development Act that is now in place and which Senator Higgins opposed vociferously in this very House, speaking for hours on end on things that enable us to accelerate renewables, improve our grid and secure clean sources of energy that are our own, as well as to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel. That is what we did, and it is now coming to fruition and into effect. Within that Act which the Senator opposed at the time was the restructuring of what was An Bord Pleanála, and is now An Coimisiún Pleanála, to give it 50% extra staff and to split the corporate spine from the decision-making spine, which has made it a much more effective and efficient organisation in that regard.
It was mentioned earlier by Senator Joe Conway, and I did not mean to not respond to it, and a couple of other Senators about IFAC's calculation of what the cost of compliance would be. However, there is no criteria and no agreed formula relating to cost of compliance or, as others would say, fines. That does not exist. IFAC has come up with a figure and a range which has no basis; there is no agreement on that. We are engaging with the Commission now and we will do well to 2030.
If we look at the EPA's own projections to 2030, they have improved year-on-year. We saw a significant improvement in this year's projections to 2030 compared with last year. A major part of that was due to the accelerated electrification of our transport fleet. We are seeing that in spades now with regard to EVs on the road. I do not want to get into a whole climate debate on it, but climate and climate action are central to everything we do. Electrification, acceleration of renewables and decarbonisation are absolutely critical.
However, there is the fundamental reality that we are an island nation. If we are going to travel for business or to meet family in a sustainable and responsible way for holidays, we need to get off the island, and aviation is very important. By the way, Ireland is a world leader in aviation. Many other countries of comparable size do not even come close to where we are, and not just on the airline side, but also on aircraft leasing. One in every two planes that fly in the sky are leased through Irish companies here. We are a world leader in aircraft and engines, aircraft finance, MRO and research. That is why so many Irish men and women have been head of airlines right across the world and are world leaders in that area. This is something we should be proud, and I think many of us are.
I make no bones about the fact that an element of this legislation is about protecting the economic health of this State, the thousands of jobs this sector supports and that those jobs in Dublin Airport, an airport I live right beside, are protected and can grow. I thank the Senator for tabling the three amendments. I respect her view and opinion, as well as the manner in which she put them forward. How we are proceeding here is in a careful and considered way, so I am not accepting the three amendments.

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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