Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. I do not mean to be disrespectful, but we are not any the wiser from the point of view that there still is not clarity whether the changes are going to be brought in solely by statutory instruments or by statutory instruments and legislation. That is important because, as the Minister knows, the DAA is determined to lift the restrictions that are currently in place on night time noise. It is particularly essential that residents would be involved and not just after the event but upfront. That is validated to me by a response the Minister sent to me earlier this month when I presented him with a table about how Dublin airport was one of the least regulated in Europe. The Minister replied to me, presumably with advice from the DAA, that that was not quite true and that other airports such as at Copenhagen and Palma were outside of that scope. What the Minister's officials or the DAA did not tell the Minister is that was not comparing like with like. Copenhagen has three runways exceeding 3,000 m in length. Departing aircraft can take off over the sea, mitigating airport noise in any circumstance in that location. Similarly, in Palma, the two parallel runways are very close to the sea. Residents have expertise. They are often people who work in the airport and who live there. The Minister will not get that expertise from officials, and he should try to tap it earlier in the process.

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