I wrote to the Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport on 17 June, advising that I would not be accepting a recommendation in the Committee's report on pre-legislative scrutiny of the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026 to include a provision in the Bill requiring a comprehensive independent assessment of the environmental and climate implications of removing the passenger cap.
This was on the basis that I had strengthened the Bill’s environmental safeguards by removing the screening provisions for both an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and an appropriate assessment (AA) which are permitted under the EIA and Habitats Directive. Under section 24 of the Bill, I am expressly prohibited from making an order until An Coimisiún Pleanála has carried out a full EIA and AA.
This ensures that a comprehensive, independent, and statutory assessment of any environmental impacts arising from the making of an order is mandated, not optional. In my view, these strengthened provisions address the Committee’s recommendation and provide a robust mechanism to ensure that any decision to address the cap is informed by a thorough, independent and transparent assessment of its environmental implications.
A final decision on daa’s Infrastructure Application, which seeks planning permission to raise the passenger cap to 40 million passengers and develop additional infrastructure, will supersede any order I make. Consideration of a planning application includes a determination on the wide-ranging implications of granting permission, across many factors. As such, commissioning a costly independent assessment in relation to lifting the passenger cap, which will have been independently assessed twice already, is not required.
