Mr. Pádraig Ó Ríordáin:

They are consultants who are appointed by us and who are acting to international standards. I am not an expert on this but there are international standards for environmental impact statements. There is a series of chapters and each of them must be addressed. The outside consultants are experts who do that to international standards. Of course, that can be critiqued by anybody because once it is produced it is put out for consultation again. People can offer their views on it or critique it. It is a standard process and is as objective as one can get.

I will turn to the Deputy's third question about the homes. Nothing that we do will be involuntary, because clearly that would be the wrong approach from our perspective. Regarding the houses affected in terms of purchase, we will make an offer to purchase those houses. As the Deputy says, it may very well be that families do not wish to move and do not wish to take up that offer. If they do not, we will leave the offer open for a year after the runway becomes operational. We are not simply asking people now if they wish to move and to take up the offer. We will leave it open so they know what the actual experience with the runway is and can make the decision in that context. If they do not wish to move, that is their choice. We will offer them insulation in their houses to ameliorate any effects of noise.