Dublin Airport operator DAA has been issued with an enforcement order by Fingal County Council for breaching the 32 million annual passenger limit, despite a High Court suspension of the cap.
An Bord Pleanála imposed the limit on airport’s capacity in 2007 as a condition of allowing it add a second terminal. The move was meant to allay fears over traffic jams on roads to and from the airport, which have since been upgraded.
State company DAA applied to the council for permission to increase the cap to 36 million and 40 million in separate applications, but has yet to receive a decision from the planning authority.
However, in April the High Court effectively suspended the passenger cap pending the outcome of a legal challenge relating to the limit taken last year by Irish airlines Ryanair and Aer Lingus, and Airlines for America, which represents US and Canadian carriers.
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The cap was breached last year when 33.3 million passengers came through the airport. The council has now issued DAA with an enforcement notice which allows a two-year period to comply with the passenger capacity conditions.
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“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 council said.
In response to complaints received that the conditions were breached in 2023 and 2024, the council’s enforcement unit initiated a formal investigation to assess compliance.
“A warning letter was issued to DAA, providing them with an opportunity to respond, which they did,” the council said.
“Fingal County Council acknowledges the operational complexities presented. However, the 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.”
A DAA spokesman described the issuing of the enforcement notice as a “sorry indictment” of the planning system.
“The fact that Fingal County Council is sending us an enforcement notice regarding 32 million passengers when passenger numbers will be north of 36 million this year and heading towards 40 million before the end of the decade is a sorry indictment of the mess that is the Irish planning system, particularly when it comes to the most vital piece of transport infrastructure on this island,” he said.
DAA said that until the “broken” system was overhauled the airport was effectively “hamstrung” and unable to grow Ireland’s connectivity. It has called for a complete scrapping of the passenger limit and for the airport to be classified as strategic infrastructure, placing relevant decisions in the hands of a national planning body and not a local authority.
“When it took up office, the Government committed to acting speedily to identify and implement a legislative solution that would remove the passenger cap from Dublin Airport,” the DAA spokesman said. “The Minister has since also said he will bring forward legislation to solve the cap issue, dispel uncertainty and maintain connectivity for Ireland – and this can’t happen quickly enough.”
Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien last month said he hoped forthcoming legislation could bring an end to the dispute.
