Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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30. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of the introduction of primary legislation or a statutory instrument in respect of the implementation of EU Regulation No. 598/2014; and the likely timescale for same. [29944/17]

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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For 16 months, I have been asking the Minister about the transposition of EU Regulation No. 598/2014 by way of primary legislation or statutory instrument. It is a critical issue for residents affected by night-time noise around Dublin Airport, particularly in the context of the new runway and the impact of noise in terms of sleep disruption and so on. Will the Minister clarify whether he is introducing legislation and, if so, when? Will it be a statutory instrument?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I am sorry, as this is the second time that I have had to apologise to the Deputy. This issue is not yet resolved even though it should have been. We had hoped to resolve it much earlier than this. We have had a few false dawns.

In anticipation of the Deputy's question, I met the Attorney General yesterday and asked him what was happening with the issue. He replied this morning, telling me that he had met the Parliamentary Counsel and advisory counsel, who are dealing with the draft regulations, yesterday afternoon. The up-to-date position is that the Parliamentary Counsel expected to finalise the seventh and, hopefully, final draft of the regulations yesterday evening. The advisory counsel will review the seventh draft and expects to revert to my Department with that draft by the end of this week with a view to arranging a meeting to finalise the draft next week. The Attorney General hopes that his letter is of assistance and has asked me to telephone him if I wish to discuss the matter further, which is an offer on which I will take him up.

The statutory instrument to give effect to EU Regulation No. 598/2014, which deals with the regulation of aircraft noise emissions, is not yet in place, much against my expectations and hopes. I had fully expected that it would have been by now. It is a source of equal frustration to me as it is to the Deputy. I spoke with the new Attorney General yesterday morning, and he has assured me that the matter is being given top priority in his office. I assure the Deputy that it shall continue to be treated as a priority issue by my officials.

The entry into force of EU Regulation No. 598/2014 marks a significant change in the way that aircraft noise emissions are managed throughout Europe and the statutory amendments required in Irish law to give effect to it are complex. Without going into the detailed and technical legal issues at play, which are a matter of ongoing work among my officials, the Attorney General's lawyers and parliamentary draftsmen, there are two areas that are taking more time to get right than was imagined at the outset, the first of which is the independence of the new noise regulatory body. There is broad agreement that the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, is best positioned to take on this role and do it to the highest standard of professional competence. It has a strong and internationally verified track record in the area of aviation safety and inspection, functions for which it already has legal responsibility. Making it responsible for noise regulation makes sense but the legal intricacies involved in making it the competent authority for the purpose of the EU noise regulation entails ensuring that the noise regulation function is fully and demonstrably independent of all other activities carried out by the authority.

The second area of focus is on ensuring that there is clarity about how environmental impact evaluation will work in future and a clear delineation between the roles of relevant bodies, including the noise regulator, the local authority and An Bord Pleanála.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The issue of the need for, and the nature of, primary legislation on noise regulation is one that will only be clarified when we have finalised the statutory instrument. At this stage, it is fair to say that, should primary legislation be required, it is unlikely to be done in 2017. The Deputy should, however, be assured that I will be more than happy to provide her with more information once there is clarity on this matter.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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It goes without saying that it is shocking that this situation has not been resolved. I am unclear from the Minister's answer as to whether we are discussing just a statutory instrument or primary legislation. If we could even have clarity on that, it might give some assurance to residents.

The regulation is supposed to improve the position of residents who are already living with the impact of sleep deprivation and noise annoyance. They know that the directive is being put in place at a time when the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, is quite open about its attempts to undermine the existing restrictions on night flights, which will have a negative impact on residents' lives.

I understand what the Minister is saying about the need for clarity and the independence of the IAA but will it be primary legislation? Can we at least have information on that?

What about the idea of the Fingal Organised Residents United Movement, FORUM, resident's group working with the collaborative working group linked to the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA? Has that been set up or is that also still awaiting the diktats of the Attorney General?

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Minister not at all embarrassed to give the answer he has given to this question? Just like Deputy Daly, I have raised this issue consistently for the last 12 months. Consistently, Question Time after Question Time, a resolution has been imminent. The resolution, however, has not come to bear. As a consequence of that, the residents in the area are totally and utterly frustrated, as the Minister himself claims to be. The only difficulty is that the residents cannot do anything about it whereas the Minister can. The Minister is also stunting growth at the airport. I used the airport in the last number of days and on my return flight the plane had to circle for 15 minutes because of capacity issues on the existing runway. I advise the Minister that it might be better for him to concentrate on the legislation under his own remit in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. If he did, this matter could have been resolved at this stage.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I can always depend on Deputy Troy to come in on the back of a question where he thinks there is a vulnerability. It is a pity he did not ask the question himself. I will certainly answer Deputy Daly as fully as I can.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Under Standing Orders I am permitted to ask a supplementary question.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Of course the Deputy is permitted to do many things. I am just commenting on the opportunities and initiatives which he takes and that it is a pity he did not ask, or think to ask, the question himself.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I have submitted a written question to the Minister.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Of course I am embarrassed by this. I am acutely embarrassed by this because the Deputy is correct, she has been asking for 16 months. She has probably been asking this question since before I came into office. The answer I give to her is this - if it is with the lawyers, it is with the lawyers. As the Deputy can see from the letter which came back, I am harassing the Attorney General to produce an answer. I cannot take precipitative measures when the Attorney General is making a decision of this importance. It is very important that we get this right for the sake of the runway, for the sake of the residents to which the Deputy has referred, and for the sake of the nation. Whereas it might seem to be a difficult legal problem delaying everything, if we get this wrong we will be in an awful lot of trouble. The answer is that we are still looking at a statutory instrument. The original legal advice of the Attorney General was that the designation of the competent authority should be done using secondary legislation and that is what we are endeavouring to do.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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I am a bit struck dumb by the last point. Is the Minister now saying clearly that there will be no primary legislation?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I am not.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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The Minister is not saying that.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I am not.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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He does not know.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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That is a huge problem. This is completely unacceptable. We are talking about a draft being finalised by the end of the week, but I still do not know what that draft is about. Will it be the regulations to deal with a statutory instrument or guidance for primary legislation? It is already the situation that Dublin Airport has one of the most relaxed sets of restrictions for noise and that the residents are suffering from that. They are also acutely aware of the statements by the DAA that, once this body gets up and running, the DAA intends to move to lift the night-time restrictions on flights linked to the new runway. The residents are not opposed to the new runway, but they want it to be balanced with their quality of life. Out there on the ground there is a road network which is in upheaval and there are problems in the airport. It can be seen happening on the ground yet the legislation has not caught up and it is unacceptable. Could we be given copies of that information as soon as possible - towards the weekend? I beg for clarity on whether it will be primary legislation or a statutory instrument. Can we even say one way or another? It has to be sorted before the recess.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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It should be sorted before the recess, I agree. I will provide copies, yes. The moment I get that, I will let the Deputy know. I assure her of that. I will let her know the moment I do because I am aware of the fact that she cannot ask another question for a long time. I will certainly let her know immediately.

On the issue of whether it will be secondary or primary legislation, if the Attorney General advises that primary legislation is required to finalise any aspects, the introduction of any such legislation to the Oireachtas is unlikely to occur in the short term. My immediate focus is on finalising the necessary secondary legislation to give effect to the provisions of the new EU regulation. As the Deputy knows, the primary legislation, if there is any, will focus on the longer-term strategies such as planning, superseding decisions and other things like that. The statutory instrument will concentrate on the need to set up the structures necessary to establish the competent authority. We do not know yet, but we are concentrating on getting the statutory instrument out as soon as possible.