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MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT Shane Ross has said that he will soon launch a consultation to look at the advantages, disadvantages and feasibility of building an independent third terminal at Dublin Airport.
Speaking at a press conference for the Independent Alliance this afternoon, Ross said that, “within the next few days” there would be announcement about the consultation.
The Minister said that he was “very happy” to “take on established monopolies in this country” and singled out Irish Water and the daa in particular.
Formerly the Dublin Airport Authority, daa runs Terminals 1 and 2 at Dublin Airport.
Ross said that the creation of an independent third terminal would be beneficial:
To establish independence would make it more competitive and challenge the old ways. That’s what we’re about, and that’s what we’ve done.
He used this as a wider example of what the Independent Alliance had done in just under a year in government.
He expanded on this point, saying that the Alliance had come from “very different political backgrounds” but were “happy to unite around certain issues that challenge the establishment”.
“And we’re going to continue to do that,” Ross said.
He added that the government is “actually working well”, and that personal relationships are good within the parties.
This however, is not the first time that a new terminal for Dublin Airport has been flagged.
In November 2016, the Department of Transport published a request for tenders to conduct a report titled, ‘A review of future capacity needs at Ireland’s state airports’.
A recent study found that the facility was Europe’s fastest growing major airport in the first half of 2016, with passenger numbers at their highest rate ever.
This number is expected to rise. To cope with the demand, the state-owned daa recently announced it will start work on a second runway at the airport, which will cost about €320 million to build and is expected to be completed by 2020.
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