Before the summer break, the Government produced a general scheme for the airport noise regulation Bill 2018 which makes Fingal County Council the designated noise regulator. Doing that disregarded the concerns of local communities, as the airport noise plan will undermine the noise restrictions that should be retained as per the planning permission granted in 2007. The Government is also ignoring an EU directive which clearly states that any review should be conducted by an independent noise regulator. When will a genuinely independent noise regulatory authority be established to ensure that the opinions of local people and communities are taken into account and that they are centrally involved in the decision-making process?

My understanding on that legislation is that the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport started the pre-legislative scrutiny process last week. All of these issues can be raised during that process.