A Senator has compared private jets travelling from Kerry to Cork to controversial short-haul flights supposedly made by pop star Taylor Swift.
Sinn Féin Senator Lynn Boylan was speaking about the impact of private jets on the passenger cap applied to Dublin Airport.
Senator Boylan cited a study commissioned by Greenpeace, which recorded CO2 emissions of private aircraft across Europe between 2020 and 2022.
Senator Boylan, who is her party’s spokesperson on Climate Justice, said short-haul, private flights are of particular concern with regards to carbon emissions.
She referenced a controversial, 13-minute flight supposedly taken by Taylor Swift in the United States, and said there were several similarly unjustifiable flights like this in Ireland in 2022.
She said there were 11 private flights between Kerry and Cork, a distance of 79.64km, and she added a train takes just 80 minutes to complete that journey.
The study commissioned by Greenpeace, and carried out by the Dutch independent research and consultancy organisation CE Delft, showed there were 11 private flights between Kerry and Cork or vice versa during 2022.
The study also showed there were 19 flights between Kerry and Shannon during 2022.
At 70.38km, this was the shortest private flight route in Ireland with 10 or more flights during 2022.
Senator Boylan asked if the government has given consideration to a measure taken by France, to ban short-haul flights on journeys possible to complete in less than two and a half hours by train.
She said of the passenger cap for Dublin Airport, granting preferential treatment to private jets when commercial flights face constraints would fly in the face of climate action and just transition.
Responding, Green Party Minister of State Ossian Smyth said private jets are having almost no impact on the passenger cap, as very few passengers are carried by non-commercial airlines.
Minister Smyth said that the use of private jets during a climate emergency for leisure and luxury is an obscenity.
