Fingal County Council and the Dublin Airport Authority’s row over the passenger cap has escalated after Fingal County Council issued an enforcement notice.
The enforcement order, which was announced on June 20, now legally complies the daa to act within the guidelines set out by Fingal County Council.
Under the order, the daa now has a two-year period to comply with planning conditions, which were imposed by An Bord Pleanála over the passenger cap issue.
A spokesperson for Fingal County Council stated “the two-year period provides an opportunity for daa to progress their planning applications to increase passenger capacity at Dublin Airport or take such other steps as they consider appropriate to achieve compliance.”
The spokesperson explained that the enforcement order was based on the initial planning permission plans granted to the daa in 2008.
Under the planning conditions set out in 2008, conditions were attached for the construction of Terminal 2 and the extension of Terminal 1.
“The conditions clearly stated that the combined capacity of both terminals must not exceed 32 million passengers per annum,” the Fingal County Council spokesperson said.
Fingal County Council said that complaints were received that the conditions set out by ABP, were breached in 2023 and 2024.
As part of the legal process, the planning authority’s enforcement unit launched a formal investigation to assess if the daa were complying with the conditions set out by ABP.
A warning letter was then issued to the daa, and the daa were given the chance to respond, which they did.
However, relations between Fingal County Council and the daa have clearly reached an impasse with no indication of where the row goes next.
The ball appears to be in Fingal County Council’s court; despite much being written about the decline of local democracy in Ireland and the lack of powers afforded to local authorities in Ireland, Fingal County Council are ultimately the ones who can grant or deny planning permission or in this instance, impose an enforcement order on a larger body.
The Fingal County Council spokesperson said, “information submitted by daa does not constitute sufficient grounds to prevent further action. The investigation has determined that a breach of the relevant planning conditions has occurred and remains ongoing.”
“Fingal County Council, in accordance with its legal obligations as the planning authority, has issued an enforcement notice under Section 154 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. daa has been given two years to bring its operations into compliance.”
According to daa spokesperson Graeme McQueen “Ireland is an island with a fast-growing population and we know our economy is exposed to global headwinds, so it makes no sense to have a passenger cap on our national airport.”
“The announcement this week by ESRI that it has downgraded its growth forecasts for the Irish economy is a timely reminder that Ireland needs to be open and on the front foot when it comes to maximising growth opportunities.”
McQueen pointed to statements from American and Canadian airlines who are “shaking their head in bewilderment at the lack of impetus on the cap being removed.”
“That’s worrying for Ireland as it essentially equates to us telling the world that we’re not interested in new business – and that means fewer new jobs, less money into the economy and lower inbound tourism spend. The cap can’t be removed quick enough – we need to get on with it,” he said in a statement to Northside People.
In January, Fingal County Council rejected an application from the daa about raising the passenger cap to 36 million passengers a year.
At the time, the daa said the decision was a “bizarre decision by Fingal County Council.”
Research carried out by the consultancy firm Coakley O’Neill found that Dublin Airport could carry as many as 40 million passengers by 2030.
Commissioned by the daa, the firm stated there is a “pressing need” for the passenger cap to be lifted.
Former Aer Lingus and British Airways CEO Willie Walsh said that the passenger cap said that Ireland’s reputation has been “tarnished” within the aviation industry as a result of the passenger cap row.
Speaking to the Irish Times, Walsh said that the passenger cap is “viewed with ridicule” within the industry and “in you’re looking at a situation where Dublin has lower capacity with two runways than it had with a single runway.”
Of course, the demands of economic growth butt up against the reality of enviromental protection.
Outgoing Fingal County Council Mayor Brian McDonagh said earlier this year, “I have no confidence or trust in the DAA’s willingness to address noise-related health problems or carbon emissions.”
2021’s COP27 conference found that Dublin Airport emitted more than 1 million tonnes of carbon emissions in 2021, the single biggest producer of carbon emissions in the country, while statistics from early 2024 revealed that Dublin Airport produced 2.8 million tonnes of carbon emissions in 2019.
2.8 million tonnes of carbon is the equivalent of what 1.4 million cars would produce in a single year.
Emissions released by aviation have become a major political issue on the continent, with the French government banning flights between French cities that could be made by public transport in 2023.
The Spanish government has also looked to introduce similar bans; if two cities can be reached by public transport within 2 and a half hours, they will look to ban flights between cities.
A statement by the Irish Doctors for the Environment said “expanding Dublin Airport and increasing the passenger cap in the midst of a climate crisis is simply unacceptable.”
They stated that increasing the passenger cap “is an act of overt climate denial and undermines Ireland’s emissions pledges.”
Research from the group showed that a return trip from Dublin to the Canaries emits 1 tonne of C02 per person, which is the same amount that an average person living in Africa produces in an entire year.
They cited figures from the Dublin Airport Authority that raising the passenger cap would increase emissions by 22%.
The group said “the arguments put forward by the DAA and others supporting passenger expansion need to be seen in the context of numerous damning climate and biodiversity reports. Claims about how climate-friendly Dublin Airport is and how it makes perfect sense to expand the airport and increase passenger numbers cloud the truth,” they said