Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In his statement the Minister said he had felt it made sense to have the Irish Aviation Authority as the airport noise regulator. I am curious as to why he thought that was a good idea when there were already serious questions about the independence of the authority. There was to be a process to separate the two main functions of the authority and bring the safety regulations under the Commission for Aviation Regulation. Will the Minister give us an update on this?

There was a lot of commentary on the separate independent authority that should be created for the purposes of noise regulation. The Minister said he chose Fingal County Council and that he is confident Fingal County Council is best placed. Why is this? According to what he outlined, it already has responsibilities under the EU environmental noise directive relating to major traffic infrastructure and roads and with regard to its planning functions. Every local authority has this. Is there a particular expertise that Fingal County Council has above the others? Is this why he chose it? As Deputy Troy mentioned, 8% of the local authority's funding comes from airport traffic rates. How does the Minister consider this to be independent?

After the time wasted on the Irish Aviation Authority, was it a chaotic last-minute decision to opt for Fingal County Council? Was it done because it is so rushed? It is very specialised work and I cannot see why it would have the expertise above others.

The Minister spoke about the regulation and the Bill. Will he outline what specifics are in the regulation or in the Bill regarding the rights of residents? He mentioned that the primary legislation will supersede planning permission. Will he elaborate on this?

Could this not go directly to An Bord Pleanála under the critical infrastructure provisions? That is a way for major decisions to be dealt with separately, and nationally. Given the complexity of the decision and the expertise required, is this not possible?