Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the House for the opportunity to introduce the Bill. This Bill was brought before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport in October 2018 for pre-legislative scrutiny, where we had a robust and constructive debate. The Bill was published in November 2018 and passed Second Stage in the Dáil in December. It then passed through Committee Stage in the Dáil in January and Report and Final Stages between February and March this year. At all Stages, there has been constructive debate. Deputies on all sides made valuable contributions and, as far as possible, I have worked to accommodate the amendments tabled from the beginning of the process. I have accepted four Opposition amendments and I tabled a further 14 amendments which were either agreed with Deputies in advance or simply served to refine the wording of the Opposition amendments. While there have been differences of opinion, the spirit of the engagement has been largely collaborative and I believe the current version of the Bill is greatly improved on the version first published.

The main purpose of the Bill is to implement European Union Regulation 598/2014, which came into effect in June 2016. This regulation sets out the rules and procedures regarding the introduction of noise-related operating restrictions at EU airports. As the regulation only applies to major EU international airports, based on traffic levels in Ireland, it only applies to Dublin Airport. That is highly unlikely to change for the foreseeable future. This Bill provides, for the first time, that noise generated by aircraft activity at the airport, including inbound and outbound flights, will be subject to extensive, detailed assessment, ongoing monitoring and regular review. I propose to raise the bar for what the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, as the operator of Dublin Airport, is required to do to comply with noise rules. This Bill is fundamentally about ensuring the sustainable development of the airport, which balances the ambitions of the DAA, the needs of business and tourism interests and the legitimate rights of local residents.

As an island economy, we are heavily dependent on air connectivity and there is no doubt that the threat of Brexit on the horizon has brought that dependency into sharp relief. At the same time, no reasonable Government can envisage unfettered development on pure economic interest grounds. There have to be rules and regulations to ensure that all developments are justified, proportionate, appropriate and respectful of a broader range of criteria than simply economics. This Bill provides for that broader perspective. It respects existing planning and development and environmental laws and is underpinned by binding EU regulations and directives on environmental and aircraft noise. It ensures that every time a planning application at Dublin Airport is considered, the aircraft noise implications will also be considered.

Under Regulation 598, member states must designate a competent authority as the independent noise regulator, with responsibility for assessing noise, setting restrictions if required and monitoring and enforcing compliance. In Ireland's case, Fingal County Council is to be designated as the independent noise regulator for Dublin Airport. This is what the Government has decided and the Bill as passed in the Dáil provides for that. This designation has been the subject of extensive debate in the Dáil, and during pre-legislative scrutiny. Opposition Deputies have expressed concern that Fingal County Council is conflicted, largely because it receives rates from the airport authority, and there were also concerns that it did not have the required noise expertise. I have addressed both of these issues head-on during the Dáil debate, and I have also addressed them separately in parliamentary questions over recent months. I do not believe there is substance in either of these points.