Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The figure is still more than 33 million according to the Department of Transport. The cap is being breached. That is the reality. On the planning application to increase the cap to 40 million that went in before Christmas, Mr. Jacobs mentioned the tunnel being needed for the airport to be at 45 million passenger capacity. The figure of 50 million passengers has already been mentioned today. An application has been made to increase the cap to 40 million passengers by 2030, but this is included as part of a massive application relating to infrastructure. It is the biggest application Fingal County Council has ever received. Mr. Jacobs has said today the DAA could put in an operational planning application to raise the passenger cap only and it is looking at this. The DAA is all over the shop with its planning applications. Why did it not just make a planning application to raise the passenger cap with no infrastructure attached to it? Why did it not just make an operational application?