Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank members for being present to discuss what everybody recognises is a vital piece of national infrastructure. It is correctly being examined by this committee, because without it we would lack connectivity which we need so badly. I have arranged a full briefing for members by my officials tomorrow if they want to get into the detail. They have all been notified of that.

The second runway is an important national transport project, which of raises a range of complex issues about sustainable and balanced national development, the future needs of our economy and a booming population, global connectivity and environmental protection. It involves difficult choices and decisions. Delivering major infrastructure often means the need for compromise.

If Dublin Airport, which is reaching capacity, is to service the needs of our island nation, it needs another runaway. Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, has started work on it, and as the committee recently heard from the new DAA chairman, Mr. Basil Geoghegan, all going to plan, it will be ready by late 2021, with construction to begin early next year.

There are complicating issues, which were recently raised with the committee by the DAA chairman. I have addressed these issues in Dáil and I will discuss them further now. I refer to the operating restrictions and the appointment of a noise regulator.

In 2007 the DAA received planning permission to build the new runway at Dublin Airport. Part of the conditions for granting that planning permission related to noise at the airport, and in particular, two conditions were introduced by An Bord Pleanála that will impose operating restrictions on Dublin Airport when the new runway is complete. Specifically, as I understand it, the restrictions mean that the number of flights landing and taking off at the airport between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. will be halved once the new runway is completed. This will have a knock-on effect on aircraft utilisation throughout the day and may lead to aircraft being based elsewhere.

Those conditions still apply with the planning permission extended to 2022, and the DAA is concerned about the impact on the viability of the runway project and on Dublin Airport more generally in the medium to long term.

In the intervening period between the awarding of runway planning permission in 2007 and the DAA's announcement of the north runway project in April 2016 in light of the rapid recovery of passenger numbers, new EU regulations on airport noise management were introduced. EU Regulation 598/2014 came into formal effect in 2016, setting out a structured approach to assessing and addressing noise at airports using the so-called "balanced approach" developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO. The objective of the regulation is to facilitate airport development and expansion in a way that minimises the noise impact of that expansion as far as practicable. Moreover, the regulation is crafted to support airport development and more and better global access. It therefore provides that the introduction of operating restrictions should only be a last resort after all other alternatives have been considered or applied. The Government last week approved a process that envisages enactment of a Bill to give effect to EU Regulation 598/2014 by the end of the year. This will allow for a re-examination of noise mitigation at the second runway from the perspective of a custom-built legislative framework for noise impact and noise management. This was not possible under the generic planning process as it applied in 2007. This re-examination will be done in accordance with both the EU regulation and existing environmental and planning and development laws and procedures.