Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There was discussion on Rotterdam, movements at a Dutch level, and their environmental considerations around noise. Is the Minister aware of the incredible situation that exists now at Dublin Airport as regards the north runway? It has been quite well covered in the media in recent days and weeks. We have had correspondence from this committee and the DAA regarding it. A situation has arisen whereby a planning application was submitted for the north runway, which included an assessment of the noise impact of aircraft movements. Houses were retrofitted and insulated on the back of that, according to plans, but the minute the runway opened, the aeroplanes went in a different direction. In the words of the DAA, some local communities were being unexpectedly overflown. That is an incredible situation.

I received a response on this in recent days from the DAA. It acknowledged that a small number of dwellings, which were previously on the verge of eligibility for retrofitting and insulation, were likely to become eligible as a result. In simple terms, some houses that were insulated are not impacted by the new north runway because their houses are not being flown over, while other houses that were not expected to be impacted, and people bought and built houses on the basis they would not be overflown, are now seeing numerous flights daily and hourly. It seems an incredible situation to have ended up in. It is the case and it is safe to say the DAA is now operating contrary to its own planning permission. Are the Minister and Department aware of this? What accountability, if any, will there be?