The Irish Congress of Trade Union’s (ICTU) submission to the review of future capacity needs at Ireland’s state-owned airports has made the case for expansion and reconfiguration of the existing two terminals at Dublin Airport, rather than the construction of a third terminal.

Congress said if there was a need for a third terminal at some point in the future “it should be financed, owned and operated by the Dublin Airport Authority.”

The submission said the development of a privately owned and operated third terminal at Dublin Airport would undermine the strategic and economic importance of the airport. It said this “would contradict Government policy of developing Dublin Airport as a secondary hub.”

“We know of no other airport that has an independently owned and operated terminal in competition with other terminals and, in our view, it would make no sense to organise Dublin Airport on this basis,” it says.

Congress also raised concerns about the potential impact on the quality of employment if a privately owned and operated terminal was developed at Dublin Airport.

The review of future capacity needs is being conducted by Oxford Economics and Cambridge Economic Policy Associates (CEPA). Congress was approached by CEPA in February seeking its views on a potential third terminal at Dublin Airport.