Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to acknowledge the contributions aimed at improving the Bill made by Opposition Deputies, including Deputy Coppinger and others present, on and since Committee Stage. We did not agree on everything but we agreed on quite a lot. I am sure that will become clear on this Stage. It is a better Bill as a result of the robust debate and amendments made on Committee Stage. I hope that the amendments I have tabled on Report Stage, most of which are in direct response to issues raised by Deputies, will improve it further.

I wish to extend a welcome to the residents of Fingal who are in the Public Gallery. I very much enjoyed the many enlightening meetings I had with them, which gave me a full understanding of the difficulties in which they find themselves. I hope that, when enacted, the Bill will address many of their worries, problems and stresses. I hope that it will pass through the Dáil this evening or as soon as possible. I acknowledge that aircraft noise is an important issue for them, their families and their community. It has a direct impact on their daily lives and they are rightly here tonight seeking that the Dáil provides, through the Bill, for a fair and open system for regulating noise at Dublin Airport.

I hope that, as a result of the debate and the process in which we will engage tonight, Members will see that what is proposed in this Bill provides them with a robust, transparent and accessible regulatory system that will for the first time impose significant regulatory discipline on noise management at Dublin Airport.

As I outlined on Committee Stage, the purpose of the Bill is to make provision for the implementation of EU Regulation No. 598/2014. As Deputy Clare Daly pointed out in her amendment, and as Deputy Coppinger also pointed out, the EU Commission has outlined after Annex II of EU Regulation No. 598/2014 that, based on the work the WHO is currently undertaking regarding the methodology to assess the health implications of the noise impact, the Commission intends to review Annex III to the 2002 directive. EU Regulation No. 598/2014 requires the competent authority to carry out any noise assessment in line with the noise directive of 2002. Therefore, any such update to that directive to take into account WHO guidelines will directly impact the need for the competent authority to have regard to such updated requirements. It is at EU level that this change must be made to ensure a consistent approach to mitigating noise across member states. It would be inappropriate for Ireland to second-guess this work and pre-empt any decision at European level.

The approach to aircraft noise mitigation set out in EU Regulation No. 598/2014 is based entirely around the so-called balanced approach developed by the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization. These amendments have the effect of amending this approach, and it is not permissible to try to redefine the balanced approach or, indeed, include new criteria to which the competent authority should have regard. This would constitute the setting out of new targets outside what EU Regulation No. 598/2014 dictates. For that reason, these amendments are not workable and, regrettably, I cannot accept them. I have, however, listened to the concerns of all the Deputies who made proposals on this matter and who have rightly brought attention to the importance of taking into account the impact of noise on people's health. As stated on Committee Stage, we are all in agreement on this point. I understand that my Department followed up after Committee Stage to explain how and the extent to which health issues are embedded in EU Regulation No. 598/2014 and its associated EU directives and regulations. While I cannot accept the amendments, which are unworkable, I will later move on an amendment to ensure the importance of assessing health in the context of noise is more clearly reflected in the Bill.

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