Dáil debates
Wednesday, 22 March 2017
Priority Questions
Aviation Issues
1:45 pm
Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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23. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide for the involvement of a community representative (details supplied) in relation to the implementation of EU Regulation 598/2014, in advance of its implementation; and if he has had discussions on this matter or on the actions by the DAA to lift the An Bord Pleanála restrictions on night flights, in recent months. [14445/17]
Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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This question relates to the Minister's decision to place the Irish Aviation Authority as the competent authority to transcribe EU Regulation 598/2014, on airport noise. I wonder, on foot of a discussion that we had at the last Minister's questions, whether the Minister has given any further consideration to the possibility of residents, particularly a representative of the Dublin Airport Stakeholders Forum, being involved in that process upfront and early on, and whether he has had any recent discussions with the DAA on that and where we are with it.
Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for her question on behalf of the residents and the forum group.
I wish to ensure that there are robust consultation requirements with all key stakeholders, including local residents, as I have indicated previously. As I mentioned in my response to Priority Question No. 1, officials in my Department are currently finalising the legislation to give full effect to Regulation 598/2014.
Before any decisions are made about aircraft noise management, there will be an opportunity for all stakeholders to have their views taken into consideration by the competent authority to be appointed in accordance with the regulation. It is proposed that the statutory instrument will outline requirements concerning the collaborative working arrangements to apply between the competent authority and the various statutory bodies that have roles and expertise related to noise management. In so far as public consultation arrangements are concerned, the competent authority will also be required to organise consultation processes to secure the views of all concerned stakeholders, including from local residents and businesses.
While I have not had discussions on these issues in recent months other than with my officials, the Deputy will be aware that I held a number of meetings with local resident groups late last year. Dublin Airport Authority also continues to provide information on noise to local communities. Most recently, it arranged a presentation by experts Bickerdike Allen Partners to the Dublin Airport Environmental Working Group on 15 March regarding noise data from the permanent noise monitoring terminals in the vicinity of the airport. The longitudinal noise data analysis requested at the St. Margaret's Community Liaison Group is currently being finalised and will be presented at the next meeting of that forum which is scheduled for 30 March.
On foot of Deputy Daly's request, I will happily arrange a meeting with a community representative from the forum group and the IAA in the coming weeks to discuss the upcoming implementation of EU Regulation 598/2014.
Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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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.
Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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We are on the same page to some extent. I gave an answer about the statutory instrument or primary legislation to Deputy Robert Troy and I think Deputy Daly had just not arrived yet. That will be decided very shortly. It has taken longer than I expected and I have apologised to the House already about this. It is very complicated. It is a matter of competing legislation and it is with the Attorney General's office. A draft came back of the secondary legislation already this week and it has gone back for more tweaking and is nearly ready. Whether there will be primary legislation or not still has to be decided. That is a matter of urgency. It is not a simple legal problem. I do not want to come back to this House with legislation which is going to be challenged ad nauseamin the courts. I would rather have some fairly robust legislation which I can stand over.
On the issue of someone from the forum coming to talk to the IAA, I do not know whether it will welcome it or not, but I do not care much who welcomes it or not. It is important that input is taken from residents. I hope they will be able to select someone fairly agreeably without too much difficulty, because I know there are a lot of competing residents in this situation. I would like to make it rather conditional on that rather than it leading to some sort of turf war. I would be very happy for them to have an input into this.
Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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I appreciate that and hopefully we can follow that on. The key point is that there is a unique expertise which people who live in the area but also who depend on the airport for their livelihood and who have a unique aviation expertise can bring to the table, that organisations such as the DAA cannot. While I appreciate the Minister's points about the statutory instrument or legislation and that it is not a simple legal problem, the problem we have is that we have been getting that answer for almost a year now. The communities around Dublin airport are beginning to look a bit like a war zone.
Development is under way. People are worried because it is the deliberate and stated intention of the DAA that, once it gets this runway up and running, it intends to move to restrict the conditions which it imposed and which were only minimal years ago where quality of life for residents was concerned.
I welcome the fact that the Minister will bring some of them on board and I hope that the matter can be fast-tracked. However, we need the Attorney General to bring some clarity to this situation.
1:55 pm
Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I agree that the delay is far too long. The House will understand, however, that it would be worse to bring forward flawed legislation which could be challenged. Deputies Daly and Troy would be the first to say that such legislation had been rushed, so it is difficult.
As regards bringing people into the consultation process on the noise factor, there is a constant difficulty when one has State monopolies of this sort that are likely to ride roughshod over the wishes of people who are suffering as a result of aircraft noise. I know it is taking a long time but I can assure the Deputy that it is important for a Minister in my position to ensure they are given the fullest hearing. They must also be given a voice, and not just a token one, when confronted by a State monopoly which has an enormous amount of power and they feel powerless.
The projects we are talking about must ultimately go ahead, but they must be undertaken with minimal discomfort for local people. The public must be assured that they have been given a fair hearing.
Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Until such time as the Standing Orders are changed we must all observe the time limits. I now call on Deputy Hildegarde Naughton to present her question.