The Government has been warned its proposed new law to allow more passengers to use Dublin Airport is illegal under EU law, writes Valerie Hanley.
A leading planning and environmental expert has claimed the proposed legislation – which is due to come before the Cabinet for approval this week – is not “worth the paper it is written on” as legal challenges will block it from ever being implemented.
Regulatory Compliance Planning expert Sabrina Joyce Kemper said: “Any new legislation that seeks to subvert public consultation, environmental assessments and risk of major accident assessments will be in breach of European law and is likely to be legally challenged soon after enactment.
“Any legislation that seeks to increase the passenger cap without environmental assessment and public consultation isn’t worth the paper it’s written on and it is a waste of time and resources of the State.”
The proposed legislation to lift the passenger cap will be brought to Cabinet by Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien on Tuesday.
Airport operator DAA currently has planning permission for no more than 32 million passengers each year. But this limit has been persistently breached.
DAA has lodged a series of planning applications with Fingal County Council in an attempt to increase these passenger numbers.
However, the applications have become mired in controversy. Last week another planning application was withdrawn by DAA.
At the heart of the ongoing planning row is whether DAA has provided enough information so planning officials at Fingal County Council can do proper studies on the environmental impact of more passengers.
Campaigners have accused the airport of breaching planning conditions by not adhering to the strict limit of 32 million passengers a year.
They believe that once this limit is exceeded, sections of the airport are effectively an unauthorised development.
Dublin Airport is subject to EU environmental and planning regulations.
Ms Kemper added: “This proposed legislation seeks to protect a serial breacher of the [planning] law of the consequences of their actions and seeks to silence those who use the law to protect citizens and residents.
“The EU law says the public always has to have a say, so the Government can’t bring in laws that subvert the public consultation and or environmental assessments.”
The Government has made lifting the passenger cap a key part of its Programme for Government.
Earlier this year, the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed DAA spent almost €7m between March 2023 and February 2025 on a series of failed planning applications.
Compliance Planning expert Sabrina Joyce Kemper
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These figures were obtained only after the paper lodged an appeal with the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information. Before then, the DAA had repeatedly refused to release this information.
The Department of Transport said: “The Programme for Government includes a clear commitment to working with stakeholders to achieve the objective of lifting the passenger cap and the Minister secured Government support to pursue a legislative course of action to address the passenger cap in line with that commitment.”
