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MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT Darragh O’Brien will seek Cabinet approval this morning to lift the passenger cap that is in place at Dublin Airport. 

The proposed legislation would empower the minister to make an order to revoke or amend the 32 million passenger cap that is currently in place. It would also allow him to prevent future caps. 

Minister O’Brien is seeking to raise the current cap from 32 million passengers to 40 million passengers per year, with the rationale being that Dublin Airport is “essential” to Ireland’s future economic growth and competitiveness. 

Speaking on his way to Cabinet this morning, O’Brien said the lifting of the passenger cap is “critical”.

O’Brien also remarked that while Fingal County Council has done good work, he doesn’t believe “a piece of national infrastructure as critical as Dublin Airport should sit within the planning authority of the local authority”.

Fingal County Council, the local authority for the area, gave the green light on planning permission for Terminal 2 back in 2007 on the condition that there would be a 32 million passenger cap.

O’Brien said a separate bill will seek to bring the airport “back into critical infrastructure, which is where it should be”.

He added that a “balanced” approach is being taken and that the concerns of local residents are “to the forefront of my mind”.

He also remarked that he wants the legislation to pass “as quickly as we can” and that it will be passed “certainly before the end of the year, if not before that”.

“We spent the last number of months working on this very detailed, complex piece of legislation,” said O’Brien.

“I’m content with where it is at right now and I look forward to getting support from my colleagues so we can move ahead and get this legislation to the Oireachtas.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has previously said it is “imperative” that the passenger cap is lifted.

In April last year, the High Court put a stay on the Dublin Airport passenger cap after a number of key issues relating to the case were referred to Europe, so currently the cap is effectively not in operation. 

Environmental concerns around the emissions from increased flights have been raised more recently, but were not the primary reason why the cap was introduced in the first place.

Campaign group Children’s Rights Over Flights said it is “outraged” at plans to remove the passenger cap.

It described the move as “reckless and irresponsible” and pointed to “already record levels of aviation fossil fuel pollution being produced”.

Hannah Daly, Professor of Sustainable Energy at University College Cork, said the “full climate cost of flying is still not reflected in ticket prices”.

She added that “expanding capacity will lock in continued emissions that are incompatible with serious climate action.”

Celestine O’Reilly of Children’s Rights Over Flights meanwhile accused the government of “yielding to pressure from powerful vested interests” and called for the current passenger cap to remain in place “until there’s an alternative plan for aviation to contribute fairly to climate action”.

Elsewhere, Deirdre Duffy, CEO of Friends of the Earth said legislation to “lift the cap moves us towards more pollution, less protection, and no credible pathway to our climate targets and a healthy environment”.

Elsewhere, Minister for Finance and Tánaiste Simon Harris will today ask Cabinet to sign off on plans to extend a scheme to incentivise the development of homes in town centres.

The ‘living city’ initiative, which is already in place in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, will be extended to Athlone, Sligo, Letterkenny, Drogheda and Dundalk.

Under the scheme, property owners can claim tax relief on the cost of refurbishing or converting residential or commercial buildings. It comes as part of Government efforts to tackle urban vacancy and dereliction.

The Tánaiste will tell Cabinet that the local authorities in Westmeath, Sligo, Donegal and Louth have now all submitted draft Special Regeneration Area maps, within which the tax incentive will apply.

It is understood he expects applications will be open to people living in the five new towns by the summer.

It is further understood that the scheme is being extended to December 31, 2030.

The qualifying age of properties has been updated to include those built before 1975.

Meanwhile, in a bid to increase uptake of the scheme,  the maximum relief available to participating businesses will be increased from €200,000 to €300,000.

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