James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his offer. We will certainly take it up. I do not want this to be seen as a situation with winners and losers. We are trying to achieve a balanced approach that allows a critical part of our infrastructure, not just for Fingal but for the country, to continue to prosper, grow and provide jobs, and at the same time protect the rights of those who live near it and to protect them from the necessary noise that operating an airport causes. I want to see great efforts made to further reduce the noise from aircraft, which has happened quite a bit over the past 40 years. It has dropped by 20 dB overall. With that in mind, I hope that we can reach the compromise that people need. This is not just about St. Margaret's. Many people in Portmarnock are concerned about this too. They are reasonable people and we need to sit down to talk with them to try to get the best solution that we can while being realistic and acknowledging that we cannot shut down Dublin Airport.