Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Anybody who represents residents of areas close to Dublin Airport will know that the airport is critically important to the economic life of the area and the whole Dublin region. It is one of the major factors in the region's growth. It is also a major cash cow for Fingal County Council in terms of the rates base it constitutes. Anybody who was a member of Dublin County Council, as it was known, and subsequently Fingal County Council will know that much of the council's economic strategy is based on the development of the airport.

I do not know how familiar the Minister is with Dublin Airport or its economic progress and plans. For some time, it has been making itself into a hub, particularly for people from the United Kingdom but increasingly for passengers transiting from many different parts of the world. People are catching a flight to Dublin, hopping off and then travelling onwards on a second flight. The consequence of this is that for some years now Dublin Airport Authority has been keen to increase the number of hours during which flights in and out of Dublin Airport are allowed. Everybody here knows that one of its objectives is to commence flights much earlier in the morning, perhaps two hours earlier, with perhaps one additional hour of flights at night. As the Minister knows, the DAA is allowed to breach the current times in a number of exceptional circumstances and has availed of these to the maximum. Many residents believe it has exceeded the maximum. That has consequences in a country in which there is little or no protection against noise pollution. It is a very poorly served area in Irish law. Anyone who has been on a county council will be aware of that, even in respect of relatively simple problems people have with noise.

It also has to borne in mind that all of the medical evidence shows that bad noise pollution is a very serious health issue for a cohort of people. Noise affects people in different ways. It does not bother some people that much while it can turn other people's lives upside down and make their lives a misery. If the Minister was reading newspapers, magazines or books over Christmas, or if he visited any bookshops, he will know that bookshops are loaded with books about the necessity of a good night's sleep for people's health.

Fingal County Council has a vested interest in the success and expansion of Dublin Airport. Over a long period it has, in its role as a planning authority, sought to facilitate the airport. We all understand that. The Minister is now appointing that entity to be the regulator of noise, which is a significant problem for a number of communities around the airport. Over the past ten to 20 years there has been some noise mitigation, for instance, soundproofing measures have been implemented. In many cases, people have had triple glazing installed which has significantly reduced the noise problem, without eliminating it. It appears the game plan is to extend significantly the hours of flying at the airport. In its letter to the Department late last year the council basically said it was not equipped to perform the noise regulation function. It was right. What will it do now? Will it simply appoint consultants and outsource this function to some commercial organisation? That would not be a satisfactory outcome. This function should be carried out by a public body. While Fingal County Council has many very good attributes - I was a member of the council several times - it is not suited to this particular role.

As many others have advised the Minister, if he proceeds with this proposal without listening to the people who represent areas near Dublin Airport, he will ultimately end up in the courts here and in Europe. I have no doubt about that. It is to be hoped that the courts will eventually provide for proper regulation. On many occasions, both as a journalist and in his political career, the Minister has noted the requirement that Ministers and others act with probity, concern and care where the rights of individual citizens are at stake.

What is at stake here is people trying to deal with noise, trying to get a good night's sleep because they have to go out to work the next day or simply need a good night's sleep if they are retired. The Minister is being foolish in deciding to persist with a course of action on a proposed regulator that does not fit the bill for proper regulation in any ordinary sense of the word. I support the amendments tabled by Deputies Clare Daly and Munster. The Minister can correct me if I am wrong but I believe there is very little legislation in Ireland that really deals with noise pollution as it is dealt with in many of our counterpart countries. It just does not exist in Ireland. It is all over the place in different little bits of legislation and planning regulations. When somebody is seriously affected by noise it can literally destroy his or her life. I ask the Minister to take that into account and to accept some of the very sensible amendments that are being offered.

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