Private jet use for leisure and luxury in Ireland during the climate crisis has been described as “an obscenity” by Minister Ossian Smyth.
The Green Party TD made the comment following a Seanad proposal from Sinn Fein’s Lynn Boylan to replace the ‘passenger cap’ at Dublin Airport for an ‘emissions cap’ to reduce private jet flights.
Of the 32 million passengers that go through Dublin Airport each year, it is estimated 16,000 fly privately. But passengers who take a seat on a commercial flight will be responsible for far less carbon emissions than those sitting on a private jet.
READ MORE: Dublin Airport plans will ‘increase greenhouse gases’ – emissions expert
Lynn Boylan raised the issue in the Seanad on Wednesday and welcomed remarks from the Green Party Minister Ossian Smyth.
The Minister said the “use of private jets during the climate emergency for leisure and luxury is clearly an obscenity”, but added that the figures on what constituted such use “is mixed up in the general figure for aviation… context of everything that is not a commercial flight”.
He added: “It includes such things as Defence Forces flights, medical flights and cargo flights.
“The passenger cap is a strange thing. It is imposed by a planning condition, but we should really be looking at an emissions cap. It does not matter how many passengers are carried.
“What is more important is how many flights take off, or better than that, the emissions of the airport.”
Ms Boylan said: “Too much of the conversation about Dublin Airport has been focused on the passenger numbers, but from a climate perspective, it’s more important what plane they arrive on.
“Private jets make up a tiny amount of the passengers but a relatively large amount of the emissions from Dublin Airport.
“The flip from a passenger cap to an emissions cap could help target those unnecessary private jet journeys if it was done correctly.
“I’m calling upon the government to prioritise environmental sustainability and social equity in its decision-making regarding Dublin Airport and the regulation of private jet usage.
“It is time to put the well-being of our planet over the interests of a privileged few.”
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