The Government has moved to expedite the removal of the cap on flights to and from Dublin airport. Darragh O’Brien, the Minster for Transport, has published the general scheme of the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill which was approved by the Cabinet earlier this month and hopes to have the legislation through the Oireachtas and on the statute books as quickly as possible and certainly before the end of the year.
His enthusiasm for bringing the long running saga to an end is welcome but appears to be in a large part driven by external factors, namely an impending ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The court’s advocate general ruled last week that in his opinion the 32 million passenger cap was lawful. While the court is not obliged to agree with his view, it often does.
The full ECJ ruling is expected in the coming months and, depending on timing, could have significant consequences for the number of flights into and out of the airport this summer. The cap is currently suspended pending the outcome of a legal challenge by various airlines which can move to a conclusion once the ECJ issues its ruling.
If the ECJ ruling leads to the reinstatement of the cap this would in turn curtail the operations of airlines using the airport and carries the risk that any reduction in landing slots for US airlines would provoke retaliation from the US.
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The true extent of these risks is unknown but given that the rationale for lifting the cap is to prevent just this sort of damage to the economy it would be illogical not to speed up its implementation. However, given the issues at stake – which could have significant and far-reaching environment and social consequences – it will be regrettable if the bill does not get the scrutiny which it deserves in the Oireachtas transport committee.
One of the measures in the proposed bill deserving of interrogation is the plan to boost the home-buying scheme operated by the DAA, which gives it the power to purchase the homes of people adversely affected by the expansion of the airport, at a 30 per cent premium over the market price. The costs could be significant. At a minimum the projected spending needs to be estimated and put in the context of the expected economic gains predicted to accrue from lifting the cap. Likewise, the environmental impact of the move should be included in this analysis.
The Government is presumably confident that it will have the necessary support in the Oireachtas to get the bill through, despite these concerns. It is part of a greater focus on delivering on important economic infrastructure and related issues. But, after inclusion in the Programme for Government, this move on the cap comes more than a year into the Coalition’s term and is likely to be completed after the ECJ ruling. For this reason, the situation remains unstable.
