Proposals by Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien to scrap completely the passenger cap at Dublin Airport have met strong resistance from senior civil servants, he has said.
Since 2008, the maximum number of passengers using the airport each year has been capped at 32 million.
The cap was breached in both 2023 and 2024, with an estimated 36 million passengers expected to have passed through the airport in 2025. A planning application has been submitted to Fingal County Council by airport operators, DAA, to increase the cap to 40 million. A decision on that is expected to be taken by the local authority in the first quarter of 2027.
However, in an interview with The Irish Times, Mr O’Brien has said he does not believe a cap should be imposed on passenger numbers in the airport at all, as he believes the limit to be “arbitrary”.
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He added that he wants planning decisions relating to national infrastructure such as Dublin Airport to be taken out of the hands of a local authority and vested in the Minister for Transport of the day. While he has praised the professionalism of Fingal County Council, he has argued it is not appropriate for it to be making decisions relating to a vital strategic asset.
Mr O’Brien secured Cabinet approval in late September this year to draft legislation to end the cap and reclassify the airport as national infrastructure for planning purposes. He still hopes to publish a general scheme in early 2026 with full enactment by the end of the year.
However, he has disclosed that his plans have met “quite a resistance in some areas within the system”, specifically with opposition being expressed in some quarters to the removal of the cap. Mr O’Brien said he is content to allow the active planning application to lift the cap to 40 million to run its course with Fingal County Council. In parallel, his proposed legislation, if enacted, would remove all caps on passenger numbers. The likelihood is the legislation will become law before the planning decision is made.
Mr O’Brien has argued that removing the cap will not mean unfettered growth. He has contended that growth will take place over time and that any changes will be subject to conditions relating to considerations such as environment and noise, and will be done on the “good neighbour” principle with local residents.
However, imposing a new cap would not be rational, he has said, as it would mean that new applications would have to be filed every few years.
“The State didn’t invest significant amounts in Terminal 2 and in the second parallel runway for them to be underutilised,” he said.
“The idea that as a Government we would be coming back every couple of years and looking to set a cap or leaving it to a planning authority to make a decision that’s outside of the control of Government, I don’t think it’s a sustainable way forward.”
He continued. “It’s not about uninhibited growth in the sense, but it’s about removing a false ceiling that’s there and allowing growth that’s sustainable in the airport.”
It is understood there have been difficult exchanges over Mr O’Brien’s plans in recent weeks.
However, he said he is confident that he can proceed with the legislation and will meet Attorney General Rossa Fanning early in the new year to discuss how best to move forward with the general scheme.
DAA’s Director of Communications Sarah Ryan said it welcomed Mr O’Brien’s commitment to bring in legislation in 2026 that will remove the passenger cap at Dublin airport.
“The Minister’s action recognises the strategic importance of our national hub airport for Ireland. DAA continues to work simultaneously with other stakeholders to progress its infrastructure plans through the planning system,” she said.
- This article was amended on January 5th to include a comment from DAA.
