The body that regulates aircraft noise at Dublin Airport is proposing to loosen home insulation eligibility for those impacted by the sound of planes.
The measures are being considered by the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority (ANCA) as part of a planning application to increase the airport's capacity. Public consultation on the issue opened today and runs for 14 weeks.
Fingal County Council is currently considering an application by Dublin Airport operator, daa, to increase the passenger cap from 32 to 40 million a year, while the Government is planning legislation to remove the cap altogether.
If numbers using the airport rise, the ANCA is proposing to increase the eligibility for home insulation for those experiencing an average of 60 decibels or more of aircraft noise.
Director of the ANCA Ethna Felten said the proposed scheme will benefit more people living around the airport.
"It will allow greater eligibility than any other scheme in the past has. It will enlarge the eligibility of the local communities around the airport. It will address a 24-hour period for noise consideration," she said.
"In the past, the schemes have not thought about the 24-hour aspect of noise insulation. We're confident that it will benefit the communities. We're aware there are several studies that underline the negative health impacts of aircraft noise and this scheme is designed to really address those and help those people who have been exposed.
"It's a dynamic scheme in that it will be reviewed on an annual basis, so that if the aircraft moves or increases, the scheme will also follow that noise.
"The target is, within homes, to reduce noise by five decibels. That's kind of an important figure because the reduction of five decibels is almost equivalent to doubling the distance from the aircraft noise itself," said Ms Felten.
We've estimated about €40,000 would be the maximum required to improve the insulation for that targeted five-decibel drop, and the whole analysis also considered cost effectiveness thoroughly."
Locals say an improved insulation scheme would be welcome but they are concerned about changes to the ANCA’s Noise Abatement Objective (NAO) to reduce specific numbers impacted by noise.
Watch: Ethna Felten says the scheme will benefit more people
Niamh Maher, of St Margaret's The Ward Resident Association, said an improved insulation scheme is a positive step forward but that changing the NAO is not a good trade off.
"There are certain objectives that have been set up by the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority to try and reduce the impact of noise on communities called the noise abatement objectives and, unfortunately, those haven't been met over the past few years and likely will not be met again for 2026," said Ms Maher.
"There was an objective for 1,500 people approximately to be affected by noise levels of an average of over 55 decibels at night, and unfortunately, our most recent figures from 2024 show that that's over 6700, so that's a massive increase in the amount of people that are affected by the noise.
"We wouldn't want it to be a case that the insulation scheme was increased and those targets, because they're there to protect people, disappear. That wouldn't be a fair trade-off and we would want to see that those targets are enforced because it's all about protecting the community and also reducing the effect of the noise in their health.
"That insulation scheme needs to be fit for purpose, and it needs to be good enough that it will reduce the amount of noise in a home and that can have a positive effect for those in terms of their health and protecting their health, particularly in relation to night time noise," Ms Maher added.
However, Ms Felten said the changes to the NAO, designed to give greater protection to the residents, will be challenging for the airport to meet.
"The current noise abatement objective was set in 2022 and we were comparing it against everything from 2019," she said.
"Since 2019, we've had significant changes between the North Runway opening and following Covid. We have a much better picture now of what the air traffic situation is and how the forecasts would sit because of the change in circumstances.
"We have clearer and more challenging targets for the airport to achieve in terms of protecting the local residents from any potential noise impact changes or any aspect of change that this proposed development will bring."
Daa said it has worked hard to minimise the impact of its operations on the local community and has invested more than €25 million in buying and insulating homes and schools in the local area. It is currently preparing another scheme to support over 1000 more homes once planning is in place.
"Over 200 homes and five schools have received acoustic insulation, and we’re preparing to roll out a new €30,000 grant scheme to support more than 1000 homes once planning approvals are in place."
Daa said that its Voluntary Dwelling Purchase Scheme for the most severely affected residents - which offers a 30% premium above market value plus relocation costs and conveyancing costs - is rare among European airports.
It added that while other airports may cover more homes in total, Dublin’s scheme prioritises depth and quality of treatment per household affected, making it "one of the most resident-focused mitigation packages in Europe".
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