The passenger cap at Dublin Airport is a planning condition that was put in place by the planning authority in 2007 as a condition to the construction of Terminal 2 and extension works to Terminal 1, to mitigate surface access constraints around the airport at that time. It is not a targeted climate or environmental measure.
The Programme for Government includes a clear commitment to work with stakeholders to achieve the objective of lifting the passenger cap at Dublin airport as soon as possible.
In line with that commitment, on 10 February this year I secured Government approval for the legislative approach to be taken to address the Dublin Airport passenger cap planning condition and to proceed to the formal drafting of a Bill. The General Scheme that was presented to cabinet included Head 12.
I have received a significant amount of legal advice in relation to using a legislative solution to address the passenger cap. This advice has been provided through the office of the Attorney General and included advice in relation to an exemption from the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. The General Scheme published for pre-legislative scrutiny was developed having regard to all of that legal advice.
While the passenger cap at Dublin Airport is not a targeted climate measure and international aviation emissions are outside the scope of Climate Action Plan targets, I am committed to balancing the clear benefits of the aviation sector to the country with sustainability actions in line with my Department's Statement of Strategy. This includes the commitment to enhance international connectivity to maintain our global economic competitiveness, while striving to ensure that our transport system is integrated, resilient and decarbonised in a manner that is just, as well as economically and socially sustainable.
As part of that commitment, in August 2025 I published Ireland’s first Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Policy Roadmap, which recognises the important contribution that SAFs can make toward decarbonising the aviation industry, and aims to provide the building blocks for the deployment of SAF in Ireland.
Other actions being taken are aligned with the global approach to decarbonisation of the aviation industry, which is based on the International Civil Aviation Organisation's ‘basket of measures’, and includes airlines continuing to adopt newer and more efficient aircraft, mandated increased use SAFs at EU level under the EU ReFuel Aviation Regulation, the EU emissions trading scheme and the CORSIA Scheme at international level
All of these measures are designed to ensure aviation meets the challenge of decarbonisation.
