John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

This is becoming an increasing facet of life. It seems to be the mode of transport of choice for the wealthy. I was going to suggest that one would see them if one went to the Galway Races, but I do not want to be nasty to Fianna Fáil on love Fianna Fáil and love the Green Party night. However, there is a very big issue involved here. In my constituency, and colleagues will recognise this, there is a problem with helicopter noise. Ringsend, Sandymount and right along the coast seems to be a flight path for helicopters and this has been raised with me on quite a number of occasions. We must look at that.

In London one of my Green Party counterparts, Mr. Darren Johnson, produced a report in March 2006 and the Environment Committee of the London Assembly issued a document in October entitled London in a Spin — A Review of Helicopter Noise. We need to do something similar here. In this document a number of recommendations are set out on how to deal with and control helicopter noise. It includes the following suggestions: That the Department of Transport review the impact of helicopter noise and enact policies to mitigate it; establish a website to inform the public about helicopter routes, as well as outline procedures for filing complaints; make complaint procedures clear and deal with them efficiently; create a London helicopter consultative committee in order to address concerns about helicopter noise; make the Civil Aviation Authority responsible for the environmental impact of helicopter noise; charge for additional services required by helicopters; and restrict the use of helicopters for advertising and media purposes.

All of this makes sense. I can give another example from the United States where Van Nuys Airport has put forward the idea of a comprehensive helicopter noise control plan that identifies first flight airport, FFA, recommended flight routes. What is required is that we set the heights for helicopters. In Dublin, for example, they have been given carte blanche and are flying far too low, which actually increases the noise. This is an aspect that might be addressed in another section of the legislation. Certainly, if Fianna Fáil is happy to accept the legislation, we will be happy to amend it on Committee Stage.

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