Sir, – We are supposed to be trying to reduce carbon emissions in this country, but our Minister for Transport is actively working against that goal by scrapping the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
In 2024 your correspondent, Kevin O’Sullivan, reported that emissions from Dublin Airport generated 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 per year or the equivalent of 1.4 million private passenger vehicles (Climate Crisis, February 22nd, 2024).
Emissions have only increased since, due to rising numbers of flights and passengers.
Motoring fuel taxes, including carbon taxes, more than double the price of motoring fuel, yet aviation fuel is hardly taxed at all.
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At the very least, aviation fuel should have carbon taxes applied at the same rate as motoring fuel.
Most flights into and out of Dublin are for short-stay leisure breaks made enticing by the relatively low cost of flights made possible by the lack of taxation.
Isn’t it about time that air tourists started contributing, through carbon taxes (and rightfully, excise tax and VAT, as well), to discourage the casual use of air travel and its associated emissions and instead help fund projects to reduce carbon emissions in our State?
Further to that, a premium tax could be applied on Dublin Airport flights to encourage the use of the other airports in Ireland, which are underutilised.
Motorists are heavily taxed to discourage use of their vehicle (most often used for necessary day-to-day purposes) purportedly to reduce carbon emissions, and our food is made more expensive because of high fuel costs added to food production and transportation, because of that same taxation. Yet someone flying in or out for multiple leisure weekends away and causing far more emissions than the average motorist’s annual emissions, can benefit from cheaper airfares due to untaxed aviation fuel emissions.
It doesn’t make sense. – Yours, etc,
DAVID DORAN,
Bagenalstown,
Co Carlow.
