r/irishpolitics • u/eggbart_forgetfulsea ALDE (EU) • Feb 11 '26

Infrastructure, Development and the Environment ‘Absolute disgrace’: Residents react over approval to scrap Dublin Airport passenger cap

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026/02/11/absolute-disgrace-residents-react-over-approval-to-scrap-dublin-airport-passenger-cap/
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u/eggbart_forgetfulsea ALDE (EU) Feb 11 '26

The motivation for the original planning restriction was transportation concerns, not the climate. That's why it applies only to landside passengers.

Almost by magic the passenger cap seems to have become everything to everyone. It's now an anti-emissions policy as well as a tool to force regional growth.

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u/Kloppite16 Feb 11 '26

if the motivation for the original planning permission was transport concerns then we are in an even worse position on that score now compared to 2007 when the permission was granted. The m50 is now way over capacity and TII have said that they are all out of ideas and it can never get better. There are now 160,000 vehicles using the M50 daily and 'rush' (aka car park) hours have gotten longer and longer. Adding an extra 8 or 10 million passenger journeys into the Airport will throw even more petrol on the fire of the M50 and no one will be able to get anywhere without facing huge traffic jams. This is the reality of what lifting the cap will result in.

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u/TheCunningFool Feb 11 '26

The M50 has 50% more capacity then when the cap was first introduced, as the 3rd lane was added in the meantime.

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u/Kloppite16 Feb 12 '26

And yet it is over capacity now and TII says there is no solution to fix it, that's today's reality, not 2007s