Over 120,000 people's health impacted by noise from Dublin Airport
Kenneth Fox
The health of over 120,000 people has been impacted by noise from Dublin airport, a new report suggests.
The report commissioned by residents living close to the airport suggests the cost of health impacts is estimated at around €800 million.
Based on figures provided by the airport noise regulator last year, it states that just under 71 and a half thousand local residents were “highly annoyed” and 32 and a half thousand were “highly sleep disturbed” due to aircraft noise.
The report suggests that 16,746 people have been impacted by cardiovascular issues.
The PMCA study says the findings of noise impacts on residents at Dublin Airport were cross-referenced against a similar study carried out at Brussels Airport, and cross-referenced against internationally accepted disturbance survey metrics. PMCA says its findings run parallel to the international study carried out in Belgium.
Dr Pat McCloughan said a recent Oxford Economics report cited the dangers of “excessive reliance” on a single airport such as Dublin, where labour shortages, natural disasters or technical failures could cause a significant impact on tourism and the economy as a whole.
Commenting on the report, SMWT spokesperson Dr Niamh Maher said: “The health impact on people’s lives by the relentless pursuit of driving up passenger numbers at Dublin Airport surely demands a rethink. Aircraft noise is causing real harm to local people, and now we can see that cost in economic terms.”
“Surely the time has come to introduce balanced airport development in the State. We have three other international airports – Shannon, Cork and Knock – whose aircraft movements are such that they do not even reach the level that would require mandatory assessment by a noise regulator.
"On the other hand, we have this relentless push to max out Dublin Airport passenger numbers at a major cost to not alone residents, but to the detriment of sustainable, proper regional planning and balanced economic and tourist development across the State.”
