Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Wed, 18 June) condemned the Govt for its continued dither and drift on the Dublin Airport Cap. Both Govt parties in the Nov 2024 General Election promised to abolish the Dublin Airport Cap.  The Jan 2025 Programme for Government also promised to scrap the Dublin Airport Cap. Yet 6 months later, Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien is still dithering and delaying. He has claimed to be:

• “consulting with the Attorney General”
• “looking at options”
• “considering action”
• “consulting with stakeholders”

all of which are euphemisms for sitting on his hands doing nothing. Dublin Airport is Ireland’s main gateway. It is critical to the continued growth of Irish tourism and the Irish economy. It is time for this Govt, with a 20 seat majority, to pass legislation scrapping this stupid cap, and to do so without any further delay, dither, or drift. 

Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, said:

“Six months into the new Govt we still haven’t seen any action to scrap the Dublin Airport Cap. This was one of the key promises in the Programme for Govt published in Jan, almost six months ago. Having been elected on a programme to scrap this cap, why is Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien wasting time “consulting with stakeholders”, “looking at options” or “considering action” when – with a 20 seat majority – the only option is to pass legislation to scrap this cap. 

This is a Govt with a 20 seat majority, and over 4½ years until the next election. It is unacceptable that six months into the life of this new Govt, the Dept of Transport has failed to take any action to scrap this cap. The Dept of Transport is a byword for failure, dither, and drift. It’s time for this dithering and delay to end. The Govt must pass urgent legislation to abolish the Dublin Airport Cap and give all airlines the certainty needed to continue to invest in and grow traffic, routes, jobs, and tourism at Dublin Airport.

It’s time for Darragh O’Brien to stop dithering, stop “consulting”, stop “considering action” and instead do what he was elected to do – pass legislation to abolish the Dublin Airport Cap, without any further dither, drift, or delay.”