Emissions expansion at Dublin Airport must be offset elsewhere
Emissions expansion at Dublin Airport must be offset elsewhere - The Labour Party
- Passenger cap should and must go through planning process
Labour’s climate and transport spokesperson Ciaran Ahern TD has criticised this Government’s attempt to circumnavigate their own rules to remove the passenger cap at Dublin Airport without any reference to pollution and emissions.
Deputy Ahern said:
“Scrapping the passenger cap at Dublin Airport means more flights, more pollution and higher emissions at a time when Ireland is already dangerously off track on climate action. I don’t trust this Government when it comes to climate and today is yet another example of their failure to take our climate obligations seriously.
“Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil intend to bow down to aviation billionaires with no plan put forward on how we square these increased emissions with our climate targets.
“It’s clear that, today, Government has decided that it is strategically important for Ireland to allow emissions to grow around Dublin Airport – so what processes have they put in place to address the impact of this decision on climate targets?
“We are told repeatedly that every sector must play its part, that households, farmers and communities must change how they live and work to cut emissions. Yet when it comes to aviation, Government is letting emissions rip. There is no carbon tax on jet fuel. International aviation emissions are not properly counted. It truly beggars belief.
“We do not have a clear picture of the emissions impact of this expansion, and Government seems content to keep it that way. Aviation cannot remain the sector that escapes scrutiny every time.
“The original cap came through the planning process, and its removal should face the same scrutiny. Resident’s voices must be heard, they rightly point out enormous concerns that they have about noise pollution which this Government has failed to address. The voices of climate experts must also ring loud in the ears of this Government.
“Numbers have grown at Dublin Airport there’s no doubt about that and, as an island nation, we need to be realistic that we will need aviation as a means of travel. But we are not measuring the impact of this decision. Where are these extra emissions going to be offset?
“If Government is serious about climate action, it must publish the full emissions impact of abolishing the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, explain how those emissions will be accounted for, and set out exactly where equivalent cuts will be made. How is the Minister going to ‘balance the books’ when it comes to our carbon emissions and targets?”