Group of residents seek injunction against DAA over non-compliance with passenger cap

High Court Reporter

A group of north Dublin residents wants the High Court to force Dublin Airport to comply with a controversial cap of 32 million passengers a year at the airport.

The lawsuit, brought by St Margaret’s The Ward Environmental DAC against State airport operator Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), came before the court days after the Government announced its intention to move forward with proposed legislation aimed at scrapping the controversial cap.

The cap has been in place for almost two decades, having originally been introduced by planners in 2007 over concerns about traffic congestion, among other issues.

However, in recent years, the threshold has been breached. More than 36 million passengers passed through the airport in 2025, setting a record.

Enforcement of the cap has been suspended pending the outcome of litigation currently before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

Airlines and DAA have been urging the Government to end the cap before a CJEU ruling forces regulators to implement it.

Earlier this month, Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said he had secured Government approval to publish the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026 and progress it to enactment as soon as possible.

He said the legislation would give him “the power to address the 32-million-passenger cap” at Dublin Airport.

At the High Court on Monday, several parties, including airlines and the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), expressed their intention to join the injunction proceedings brought by St Margaret’s The Ward Environmental against DAA. Fingal County Council is an intended notice party.

Lawyers for the residents' group sought an adjournment in order to take instructions on the applications to join the proceedings.

According to their court documents, the residents, who live close to the airport, are seeking an injunction to force DAA’s compliance with the passenger cap, and a similar order relating to restrictions on night-time flights.

They say that the breaches of limits represent unauthorised developments.

In a sworn statement to the court, Liam Ó Gradaigh, on behalf of the residents, says that DAA has been operating in breach of the limits on passengers and night-time flights for the past number of years, resulting in “hugely negative effects on local residents and the environment”.

Mr Ó Gradaigh, a software manager from Ward Cross, The Ward, Co Dublin, says it is unclear what measures DAA has taken or intend to take to comply with the passenger cap.

He describes the approach of planning authorities in ensuring compliance as “wholly unsatisfactory and ineffectual”.

“The planning authority’s response fails to take adequate or any cognisance of the damage the noncompliance has caused, is causing or is likely to cause to the environment,” he said. “Hence [St Margaret’s The Ward Environmental] finds it necessary to bring the present proceedings.”

The case will return to court in two weeks.