Aim of Dublin Airport passenger cap was to ease traffic, says Eamon Ryan

The Green Party leader said Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary was 'wrong' to argue that because the M50 had been widened, there was room for the airport to expand

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan acknowledged that the Government had questions to answer over infrastructure deficits between the airport and Dublin city centre. File photo

A cap on passenger numbers at Dublin Airport was put in place due to concerns that surrounding road infrastructure would not cope with increased traffic, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan has said.

As the debate continues about increasing the 32 million passengers per year cap on the airport, Mr Ryan stressed that it was introduced by An Bord Pleanála due to projections that the local road infrastructure would be unable to cope with “ever-increasing growth”.