The Government is to consider interventions to lift the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, including potentially passing laws allowing the limit to be increased.
The cap of 32 million passengers coming through the airport annually is at the centre of a protracted planning saga, with the Government of the view the limit hinders economic growth.
Coalition sources said the DAA, which runs the airport, will be expected to persevere with its planning application – but even if a favourable outcome is reached, they believe it could be between three and five years before a solution is in place.
“We need permanent solutions,” one senior Government source said, adding that the current situation could not be tolerated.
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Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien has now received updated advice from attorney general Rossa Fanning on the matter, which includes the potential to pass legislation effectively carving the decision out from planning laws.
One potential precedent is 2022 legislation on temporary energy generation, which disapplied planning laws to designated developments, although it is understood that such an approach is not risk free and would likely face a challenge by those opposed to increasing the passenger cap.
Draft options for moving forward are expected to be sent to Mr O’Brien in coming weeks. He will hold meetings with airlines this week, including the lobby group Airlines for America, amid suggestions the row could be politicised with the risk carriers could formally complain to the US government about the cap, which they believe breaches EU-North American air travel treaties.
There is a view within Government that increased headwinds for foreign direct investment and the looming likelihood of an EU-US trade war have added to the case for action. “It’s clear the cap as it currently is in place, even if paused, has the potential to ensure we lose future investment,” a senior source said.
A group of airlines last week sought an extension to a current pause on the introduction of the cap, but the Government believes such an approach is “not sustainable going forward”. Mr O’Brien is said to have met the attorney general in recent days along with senior officials and is now understood to be “looking at legislative ways forward for dealing with the cap once and for all”.
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It comes as the government braces for the announcement of tariffs on the EU by the Trump White House, with coalition ministers signalling over the weekend that reforms targeting Irish competitiveness and the domestic economy were needed.
In a statement to The Irish Times, Tánaiste Simon Harris said it was “vital that we accelerate measures to further increase our competitiveness and strengthen our position as a good location in which to invest and create jobs”.
Mr Harris, who will brief cabinet on Tuesday on the latest tariff developments, will speak to other European countries with large pharmaceutical sectors as the Government intensifies efforts to shield those parts of the Irish economy likely to be exposed to US tariffs as the EU intends to target US producers in their sectors.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin spoke to EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday evening, raising Ireland’s “particular focus” on the food, drinks and pharma industries.
Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke will brief coalition leaders on plans to “sharpen up” on competitiveness, including new legislation on private wires which allow individuals or other energy users to run their own cables to transfer electricity, reform to security clearance for investment through Enterprise Ireland and Environmental Protection Agency licensing reform.
Fine Gael sources pointed to Programme for Government commitments to cut red tape for firms as a priority, as is a promised cut in the VAT rate for hospitality.
