Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is correct in saying that the daa is responsible for airport development but the rigorous EIS that was carried out will be 13 years old by the time the new runway is operational in 2020. Obviously, our understanding of emissions and climate change has developed since that original permission was given almost ten years ago. One of the difficulties is that we had originally tabled these questions to the Minister for Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources only to have them referred back to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. There is a certain conflict in that regard.

Some of the issues are very pertinent. Aviation is responsible for about 5% of global carbon emissions. In respect of best practice, some environmentalists would say that there should be a moratorium on usage. If one looks at Dublin Airport, particularly post Brexit, one can see the number of passengers the airport now gets and the number it would need to offset the costs of the second runway that will inevitably drive up the number of flights and emissions. At the very least, a revised analysis of this would be necessary.

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