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Noise Pollution Legislation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 February 2018

Thursday, 15 February 2018

Ceisteanna (3)

Robert Troy

Ceist:

3. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason for his appointment of Fingal County Council as an independent noise regulator in respect of airport noise; the reason he plans to introduce less restrictive noise regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7941/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (28 píosaí cainte)

In his appointment as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the Minister has abdicated his responsibility in respect of the appointment of an independent competent authority for noise regulation at Dublin Airport. He has delayed and procrastinated. He has failed in this regard. We have learned in the past number of weeks that he intends to appoint Fingal County Council as the competent authority. Can the Minister outline the background to this decision and the reason he is satisfied that Fingal County Council has the capacity and capability to be an independent authority?

I cannot let the Deputy say things like that without any evidence. I have not delayed a decision. There have been delays, but not on my part. I have not procrastinated. If anything, I have put pressure on people to make haste in this. The Deputy is quite correct in saying that delays have happened elsewhere. They certainly have not happened in my Department; in fact, quite the opposite has happened.

As the Deputy is aware, the State is required to appoint an airport noise regulator under EU Regulation 598/2014. That regulation, which came into force in 2016, sets out how all member states should measure, manage and monitor noise at each of their major airports. In Ireland, only Dublin Airport is large enough to fall subject to the regulation.

As I have previously explained to the House, an earlier proposal to appoint the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, as the noise regulator ultimately ran up against legal advices, which made it impracticable. Those are the delays to which the Deputy referred. Therefore, an alternative had to be found. Following discussions between my Department and the Departments of Housing, Planning and Local Government and Communications, Climate Change and Environment, it was agreed that on balance, and having regard to the requirements of the EU regulation, Fingal County Council offered the best way forward.

It already has responsibilities under an EU environmental noise directive which encapsulates responsibilities relating to noise caused by conurbations and major transport infrastructures, including roads, railways and airports. In addition, having regard to its planning functions, it has considerable experience and expertise in the conduct of environmental impact assessments, appropriate assessments and managing extensive public consultations. There are, therefore, synergies arising from the assignment of this additional role.

A further factor that was taken into consideration was the existing scale of Fingal, which means it can relatively easily take on an additional function. It is true that Fingal will have to build some additional expert capacity, but that requirement would arise no matter what body this role is assigned to. The draft legislation will provide for additional funding to provide for this. My proposal was recently endorsed by the Cabinet, and I plan to bring draft legislation forward as soon as possible to give effect to this.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

I think the Deputy is well aware that what I propose is to fully implement an EU regulation on airport noise. I am legally obliged to do so. It represents a new decision-making process, governed by standard EU rules that apply across all member states, and there is no basis for drawing any conclusion as to what the outcome of this new decision-making process will be. I am of the view that this EU regulation which, among other things, includes provision for public consultation and has the safeguard of an independent appeals process, represents a huge improvement on current arrangements.

The Minister said he has not delayed, yet the regulation came into effect in 2016. It is now 2018 and we are still discussing the matter. He cannot even give a timeframe for when his draft legislation will come before the House. First it was the EPA and then the IAA. I questioned the Minister repeatedly and the only difficulty he mentioned was that he was awaiting independent legal advice on whether a statutory instrument or primary legislation was required. Now we have moved on to a new authority. The Minister has failed. He has responsibility for this and has failed to deliver this for the past two years.

Is it true that his predecessor confirmed arrangements two years ago for transposing the EU regulations to the IAA but because of the Minister's inaction there have been two years of negative economic impact on our country? Has the Minister met the CEO of Fingal County Council to determine its readiness, skill and capability to take on this highly specialised task? Has he spoken to the DAA or any of the main airlines which use Dublin Airport regarding how they feel about Fingal County Council? What about the residents? Members outlined to departmental officials that they do not have confidence in the impartiality of Fingal County Council to be the competent authority in respect of noise regulation.

The Deputy made a lot of statements.

I asked a lot of questions.

I do not know whether the Deputy has taken a straw poll of the residents or has met one or two. To make the statements he did is absurd and irresponsible. I take exception to them because nobody has met more of the residents about the issue of noise than I have. Every Deputy who has asked me to meet residents' groups has been received and I have listened to what they have to say. If Deputy Troy wants to come to the House and say the residents are all against the proposal it indicates that he has been wandering the streets of Malahide and Swords over the past few days taking some sort of opinion poll.

I do not believe he knows what he is talking about. He is throwing an allegation around the House in a meaningless way which is totally unscientific and unforensic. Of course the delay was regrettable. A decision was made about the IAA, subject to legal opinion. The Deputy will be well aware that this was decided one way in the Office of the Attorney General and on reconsideration, as a result of certain European standards, and much to my regret and that of everybody else, the decision was made that the IAA was conflicted. We immediately looked for another noise regulator and have thankfully found one.

I based my conclusions on my conversations with residents and having talked to democratically elected people who represent the constituency. Incidentally, if the Minister wants the legislation to go through the House he does not have the numbers on that side. He might want to realise that and engage with us. The fact he did not turn up to the briefing to discuss this issue with the Opposition spokespersons and Members demonstrated his priorities and interest in this.

Did his predecessor of two years ago have in place confirmed arrangements in respect of transposing the EU regulations? Has he met the CEO of Fingal County Council to determine its readiness and skill to take on this highly specialised task? Has he met or spoken with the CEO of the DAA or any of the airlines which use Dublin Airport as their main base? These questions require "Yes" or "No" answers.

We want the second runway to be up and running. This is having a negative effect on economic growth, not just in the Dublin region but the country at large. The Minister has responsibility for dealing with this issue and has failed to do so, whether he cares to admit it, for the past two years.

It is a little bit excitable of the Deputy to say that I have refused to engage with anybody on this. I am perfectly happy to engage with the Deputy on this.

I said the Minister was not at the briefing.

I did not need the briefing; the Deputy did. I have been briefed on this on a regular basis virtually every day. This was a briefing-----

The Minister needs to engage with us.

-----which was arranged for the Deputy and anybody else who wanted to go to it and was interested in the matter. As the Deputy said, this is one of the most important projects-----

Answer the question.

-----which faces the country at the moment. Of course we would welcome the support of Fianna Fáil for the runway.

Did the Minister meet the CEO of Fingal County Council?

Of course we would welcome anybody who is interested in this and we will inform them and keep them up-to-date because it is too important.

Did he meet the CEO-----

I will answer the Deputy's question if he does not interrupt me. He is taking up a lot more time. I am willing to meet anybody-----

Did the Minister meet him?

-----at any time on this issue and my officials have engaged-----

I will take that as a "No".

-----in conversations. I cannot hear myself, let alone Deputy Troy. I certainly cannot-----

It is a "Yes" or "No" answer.

I am in the Chair and will rule on the matter. The Minister will answer the question. The Deputy has gone over time and is stopping the next Deputy from asking his question.

I will engage with anybody relevant to the project to promote it.

I take it that the Minister is saying no.

My officials have engaged with them intensely recently.

The Minister has failed again.

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