I move:
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to give further effect to the Aircraft Noise Regulation in so far as it relates to Dublin Airport by transferring the functions of the competent authority for the purposes of that Regulation from the Fingal County Council to the Environmental Protection Agency; and to provide for connected matters.
The Bill is about transferring the functions of aircraft noise from Fingal County Council to the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. It is in response to the Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation Act 2019, which the Labour Party opposed at the time. This is a long-standing position of the Labour Party. We believe the function of aircraft noise monitoring should be with the EPA as a preferred option. It goes back to Councillor Peter Coyle from the Howth-Malahide ward a number of years ago. It is being supported by me and by current Councillors Brian McDonagh and James Humphreys.
Since the the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority, ANCA, was set up under the auspices of Fingal County Council, there have been no issues relating to the probity and professionalism of any of the senior officials in charge. That is not the case. This relates to the fact that structurally we believe this remains an unsound option. It is not the preferred option to tackle the issue of aircraft noise which, as we know from the World Health Organization, WHO, report of seven years ago, has an impact not only on the mental and emotional well-being of people but on their physical health. It can increase cardiovascular disease. People are 20% more likely to experience cardiovascular disease in areas of high aircraft noise. There are also issues of noise pollution and of particulate matter and air pollution that are caused by aircraft, which we have seen in the vicinity of Dublin Airport, particularly in estates in south Swords such as Ridgewood and Boroimhe.
We believe an agency such as the EPA is best placed to provide that monitoring service. The reason for this is Fingal County Council is a unit of local government that represents the interests of the residents living in the vicinity of the airport. One of the principal functions of local government, as set out in section 63 of the Local Government Act 2001, is to provide a forum for the democratic representation of the local community and to provide civic leadership for that community. It may be argued that by vesting the functions of aircraft noise with the chief executive of the county council rather than with the elected members, the Act has achieved a functional separation, which is an EU legal term.
Functional separation has been achieved in the electricity and gas sectors, for example, when certain functions assigned to an undertaking are spun off into an independently operated entity, even though common ownership is preserved. However, true functional separation requires that there is indeed a separation of function. This is not achieved if notionally separated entities have mixed or overlapping functions. In this case, the chief executive of Fingal County Council has been given noise regulation functions under the 2019 Act which he or she must perform without direction from the elected members of the council but at the same time remains chief executive of a body whose principal statutory function is to provide a forum for the democratic representation of the local community and to provide civic leadership for that community. In summary, the function of acting as a competent authority is vested in an individual whose principal existing statutory function is to advise and assist the elected representatives of the local authority, while the council's own statutory remit is to provide a forum for the democratic representation of the local community around the airport and provide civic leadership for the community. In those circumstances, it is questionable whether true functional separation can be achieved between the competent authority and the local residents via their elected members on the council, of which the competent authority continues to serve as chief executive. The purpose of the Bill is to redress this situation by transferring the functions of the competent authority for the purposes of aircraft noise regulation to the EPA.
There is an awful lot of strong local opinion and experience on this issue. The setting up of the ANCA, and its functioning over the past five years, has never persuaded local residents that it is the right set-up for the monitoring of aircraft noise. We believe it should be with the EPA for the reasons I set out at the start of my contribution. I ask that the Bill be allowed to move to Second Stage, where it can be discussed further.