Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and I thank Deputy Smith for bringing it forward. The usual approach from the Government is to delay these Bills by 12 months or let them go to Committee State to die. It is a particular point when the Government opposes a Bill. I would say it was a surprise but it is entirely consistent with my experience of how Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments deal with airport-related issues, Dublin Airport-related issues and airlines, whether Ryanair or Aer Lingus. At the root of that is the issue here because there is a widespread suspicion within the communities of north Dublin and Meath East that there is not fair play in any of these discussions, negotiations or transactions. There is no confidence in ANCA. There is the potential there for a conflict of interest and there is a sense it is in the wrong place and there is too close a connection with Fingal County Council and the DAA. The point was made about the role of the chief executive and the relationship with councillors, responsibility around economic development and the relationship with the DAA. This Bill was an opportunity to rectify some of that even if it is not perfect.

I echo Deputy O'Reilly's point on the argument that there was no pre-legislative scrutiny. We can throw the whole lot out the window on that basis. The Minister of State can run that back to the Department and hopefully it will not come back with that one the next time around.

I met with representatives of ANCA. As Deputy Smith's said, there is no question in terms of the integrity of these individuals or anything like that; it is about the structure and approach ANCA takes and the methodology it applies. It is the issue of modelling versus measuring. An awful lot of what ANCA is doing is not actually measuring noise; it is modelling noise and ANCA gets that information from the DAA and the airlines. That is another issue that is problematic. There is a huge amount to be done to restore confidence.

The Minister of State is not accepting this Bill. I ask him to review that position but I do not expect he will agree to do that. Wherever we go from here, these issues will continue unless the Government and the Minister change the approach.

Another aspect where there is no confidence is the sense that there is protection for and a separate set of rules applying to the airlines and the DAA - maybe because they are really well connected or whatever - than the rest of us, for example, in regard to planning law in this State.

I specifically want to raise the issue of the flight paths, the noise ANCA is supposed to be measuring and the fact the flight paths that are being operated were never intended or planned for. Deputy Smith and I sat on the previous Oireachtas committee and in June of last year, the DAA came before the committee and agreed to review flight paths by the end of the year. There are really concrete proposals from very well-informed people who are fully committed to Irish aviation and who are employed in Irish aviation but have that novel thing of wanting to see it done in the right way and, at the very least, compliant with planning law.

They have put forward clear proposals for how we might get a best fit in terms of the flight paths. Like others, I acknowledge the really hard work of the St. Margaret's The Ward resident group, the group of residents in the Wotton and the North Runway Technical Group. The North Runway Technical Group in particular has done a lot of work regarding the flight paths. At a meeting of the previous transport committee on 19 June 2024, the DAA said it would look at that. I have repeatedly pursued that. The most recent response I have is from 8 April. Really, we are getting a fudge. Nothing is happening. I get a really long answer on DAA-headed paper but in truth nothing is happening. There were access to information requests which confirm that is the case. At the root of all of this is that point I made regarding the sense within the wider community that there is not fair play here. There is one set of rules for one group of people, largely because of their connections, power and influence. It is always that way. All we have to do is look at election launches for that type of connection. As I said, this legislation could have done something to address that. The Minister is not accepting it but the problem is not going to go away. The issues of noise, the operation of the airport and, for the residents in east Meath, Ashbourne and the Wotton, Ratoath, the issue of the flight paths being non-compliant with basic planning and environmental law are not going to wash.

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