Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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I thank our guests for coming in here today. I thank Mr. O'Leary for his presentation, which included details of flights being forgone - I do not want to open up the debate he had with Deputy Farrell - and tried to convey the impact of the cap. What has been frustrating for me and others is that an awful lot of the discussion about this by the DAA is quite vague. It is done on the airwaves and there are no details, not even a PowerPoint presentation like we have had today which I appreciate.

I would like to start by discussing the MetroLink project. I believe that the project is a must. It is not just a piece of supporting infrastructure for Dublin Airport. If the MetroLink project is built, as planned, it will facilitate a 24-7 service that will assist the workers of Ryanair and the airport. The project is designed for the growth of the town of Swords, which currently has a population of 50,000 people, to a population of 100,000 people. The town would have a park-and-ride facility. The project would also serve DCU and the city centre. The project is not the answer to Dublin Airport's problems but it is a long-term solution to some of the transport infrastructure constraints that could impact Dublin Airport.

The cap is based, rightly or wrongly, not on local traffic concerns but on national road plans. It is not about getting the turn at Kealy's pub or at the roundabout beyond it. It is a national road plan. That needs to be said. While Mr. O'Leary put across his case quite well in the PowerPoint presentation, he gives the impression that Fingal County Council is maybe quite insular, small and slow in dealing with things whereas it has had to deal with an approximately 7,500 page planning application with more than 700 drawings. This was dropped on it one and a half weeks before Christmas by the DAA. Within eight weeks the council had sent a comprehensive reply to the DAA and is waiting to hear back. Everyone in this space has common cause with how frustrating Dublin Airport has been managed by the management of the DAA, including residents around north County Dublin. I do not think it is fair to call them nimbys. Mr. O'Leary has been frustrated for many years by the management of the DAA. We have been frustrated by the management of the DAA. There is no reason the local residents do not have understandable cause to be frustrated by the management of the DAA with flight paths being one of the reasons. That is not what we are here to talk about. However, when you have been brought through a process for east-west take-offs for the new runway, and for insulation schemes, and the first day that runway opens up the flights diverge 30 degrees to the north and cross over new estates and towns that were never told they would be crossed, you can understand the frustration. The DAA comes in here and tells us it was news and a surprise. They woke up and looked out their windows and saw the flights go. It is an affront to us, the users of the airport and to the residents. I want that on the record.

I turn to quieter aircraft. How do you calculate a traditional aircraft with modern aircraft? Is it decibel level, like an 80 dB average for aircraft noise? Is this new aircraft 40 dB, or half the noise? How is that calculated?