Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is precisely because of the imminent changes at Dublin Airport that the residents are particularly concerned about the impact of noise and the manner in which the authorities deal with the issue.

The Minister should forgive me but he appears to be a little bit more muzzled than he was when I previously asked the question, when he expressed his immediate gut reaction of horror that an airport authority would actively incentivise bad practice environmental standards that would have an impact on adjoining residents. He has confirmed that he has checked out the information and the point to which his attention was drawn is accurate. This is not just something that happened recently. The pre-6 a.m. discount is now in place without further notice and it is being extended indefinitely. There is also a Dublin Airport congestion alleviation scheme, which is slightly different. We also have very noisy aircraft from Ethiopian Airlines. There are no noise limits, night time quotas or auxiliary power unit bans. All those are mechanisms whereby the Minister could intervene, as the Minister responsible for the authority, and say that is not good environmental practice and it is intruding on the neighbours. Other airport authorities can proactively use the mechanisms I outlined to have a more sustainable development. I put it to the Minister again that it is within his remit to come up with proposals.

See this speech in context