Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

Tá mé fíor bhuíoch don Cheann Comhairle as ucht cead a thabhairt dom an cheist an-tábachtach seo i saol na tíre agus i saol mo dháilcheantar a ardú. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta de Paor, agus cé go bhfuil ard-mheas agam air, tá mé go láidir den tuairim gur cheart go mbeadh an tAire Iompair nó an tAire Airgeadais i láthair chun an cheist seo a phlé. Ní mar sin atá sé faraor.

I ask that the Ministers for Transport and Finance clarify how they propose to assess the cost benefit analysis which ought to be applied before any further plans are made to construct a second parallel runway at Dublin Airport. The 1,000 acres of public land, at a value of €1 million to €2 million per acre have an asset base value of up to €2 billion, meaning that the project as envisaged would result in an economic loss of around €3 billion. This suggests an urgent need to address the imbalance in regional development and less concentration of air traffic around Dublin. Road traffic that would be generated by the construction of a further runway would bring Dublin to a virtual standstill.

The Dublin Airport Authority is outside the legislative remit of the Ombudsman, is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, while airport noise is not subject to Environmental Protection Agency regulations. The airport is only partially subject to planning law. We are dealing with an institution that does not have to play by the rules which apply to others. Even though the Department of Finance has issued clear guidelines requiring a cost benefit analysis for any project costing more than €30 million, there has been no such analysis for this project. The cost benefit analysis would be expected to set out a number of options, such as the current option of the parallel runway or an extension to the current runway. It would also set out another airport location to be considered or it would detail the knock-on effects of not doing anything.

At a meeting of the Joint Committee on Transport, Mr. Gary McGann of the Dublin Airport Authority told us, perhaps understandably, that it was not its role to examine other locations but simply to maximise the land at its disposal. I do not expect the authority to set out the country's aviation policy, but I would expect the Government to do so. That has not been the case. I ask the Government to face up to its responsibilities in that respect and to ensure that the Dublin Airport Authority not only reflects the guidelines of the Department of Finance but implements them transparently. That is not happening. If the runway were to be built, it would copperfasten the quasi-monopoly of Dublin Airport during the remaining years of the era of cheap oil. Building that runway would become Government aviation policy and lock us into that scenario.

Even though the construction costs are €140 million, the cost of this publicly owned land pushes this project above any of the considerations that have been given to it at the moment. Once the lost land is included, we are talking about a cost of €3 billion, along with the congestion that arises from the construction of the runway. Dublin Chamber of Commerce has pointed to a €1 billion congestion costs per year due to current traffic problems. The Minister for Finance spoke to the chamber of commerce on 20 October about new value for money measures. We do not see that from the Dublin Airport Authority and until we do, the Government is not doing its job. It must scrutinise this project because it does not stand up to a cost benefit analysis.

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