Written answers

Wednesday, 7 June 2006

Department of Transport

Airport Development Projects

9:00 pm

Photo of Trevor SargentTrevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Transport the reason for the failure to undertake a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis for the second runway proposed for Dublin Airport; and if analysis has been undertaken of the implications of the second runway for vehicular traffic on the M50. [21894/06]

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Question 149: To ask the Minister for Transport his views on the need for another airport in Leinster to act as a counter-balance in terms of environmental concerns, traffic, competition and so on to Dublin Airport. [21989/06]

Photo of Gerard MurphyGerard Murphy (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 150: To ask the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to plans to develop a third terminal at Dublin Airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21924/06]

Photo of Martin CullenMartin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 104, 149 and 150 together.

Proposals in relation to the development of Dublin Airport, including the planning and provision of runway capacity, are in the first instance a matter for the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) which has statutory responsibility to manage, operate and develop the airport and to provide such facilities and services as it considers necessary for aircraft and passengers.

Accordingly, the issue of cost benefit analysis in relation to the proposed second runway at Dublin Airport is a matter which falls within the responsibility of the management and board of the DAA. The DAA are of course required to comply with the capital appraisal guidelines issued by the Department of Finance.

I understand form the DAA that included in the submission documents for planning permission for the proposed second runway is a detailed economic impact study, supported by an alternatives study, which firmly supports the development of the new runway, having examined other possibilities for providing the required capacity in a cost effective manner.

Infrastructural planning in relation to the environs of Dublin Airport is being co-ordinated by Fingal County Council in conjunction with the DAA and the National Roads Authority. This includes an examination of how future projections of traffic will interact with the M50 motorway and other national and non-national roads in the vicinity of the airport.

I understand that Fingal County Council has included provision for a third terminal at Dublin Airport in its recently published Draft Dublin Airport Masterplan. While a third terminal will not be needed until about 2015, given current passenger traffic forecasts, the Government decided in May 2005 that the current legal and regulatory framework governing Dublin Airport would be examined to identify any changes that may be necessary to facilitate the development of a third terminal. This would ensure that when passenger volumes determine the need for additional capacity beyond that offered by Terminals 1 and 2, the required additional capacity could then be brought on stream.

I have no proposals for the development of another airport in Leinster. Subject to the granting of planning permission, I am confident that the DAA will provide needed capacity through the expansion of existing facilities and infrastructure at Dublin Airport.

Because of its location and the scope that exists there for extensive expansion, I am convinced that Dublin Airport will continue to remain the country's main airport serving the needs not just of the travelling public in the Greater Dublin Area but also, as a core transport asset, serving the needs of the tourism, business and freight sectors nationally. Notwithstanding the greatly welcome increase in traffic at Shannon and Cork airports, and at the regional airports, in recent years, Dublin Airport will remain crucial to the well-being of the national economy. In this regard, passenger traffic through Dublin Airport is forecast to grow from 18.5 million last year to an estimated 30 million by around the middle of the next decade.

I am confident that Dublin Airport has the scope and potential to expand to cater for future growth in air traffic for the foreseeable future.

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