Eamon Ryan
Ceist:219. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he supports a feasibility study on the development of a second airport for the Dublin region. [10785/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 18 May 2016
Ceisteanna (219)
Freagraí scríofa
The strategic importance of aviation access infrastructure is acknowledged in the National Aviation Policy, published by my predecessor last August. The Policy also recognises the need for a strong Irish airport network in order to grow Ireland's share of global passenger traffic over the next decade and to support the economic and social activities of the State. Specifically in relation to the Dublin region, the Policy acknowledges the opportunity to develop Dublin Airport as a secondary hub. This will entail utilising the airport assets as efficiently as possible, including optimising existing capacity at the airport. It also envisages the provision of additional infrastructure to exploit emerging opportunities to expand air service connections for business, tourism, cultural and educational purposes, thereby delivering economic benefits at national level. In this regard, the development of a second runway at Dublin Airport is one of the goals outlined in the Policy. In April this year, daa announced that it was commencing the second runway project which should be completed by 2020. This new runway along with the two existing terminals will provide capacity for the predicted growth in the coming years.
The National Aviation Policy also takes account of the need to plan for the long term future, and outlines the Department's intention to commission a high level strategic capacity review in 2018 as well as mandating the State airports to carry out reviews of capacity constraints and infrastructure needs at five yearly intervals commencing in 2018. Given the accelerated growth in passenger numbers and future projections, these reviews may need to be undertaken earlier than was envisaged. The need for any additional infrastructure, whether they be additional terminals or airports, would be addressed as part of these reviews.