Oireachtas Committee hearing on drones reveals huge gaps in regulations on noise and planning

Green Party Leader Roderic O’Gorman TD has highlighted big regulatory gaps in the laws that govern commercial drones. He was speaking after a hearing on drones at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport. The hearing on drones resulted from a written request from Deputy O’Gorman to the Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, requesting a specific hearing on the issue of commercial drones.

“The Committee hearing on drones has clearly revealed the huge holes in regulations related to noise and to planning, when it comes to the operation of commercial drones. A witness from Dublin City Council stated that there are no planning frameworks to assist local authorities in assessing applications for drone operations and that that councils are ‘working in a vacuum", stated O’Gorman.

The Committee also heard that S.108(4)(a) of the Environmental Protection Agency Act specifically excludes the [EPA] or local authorities from regulating noise from aircraft, which also means they cannot regulate drone noise.

“The fact that the Environmental Protection Agency Act specifically excludes aircraft noise, and as such, drone noise, is hugely significant. It means that one of the biggest concerns raised by people about drones cannot be comprehensively regulated by the EPA or by local authorities. This is another gap in regulation”.

“Today’s hearing has shown that the Government must urgently publish its Policy Framework on Drones and that this needs to comprehensively cover key issues like safety, noise, privacy and the planning system”.

“The hearing raises a bigger issue. How much of the traffic that currently exists on our roads, do we want to transfer to our skies? This fundamental question needs to addressed at a time when more communities will see commercial delivery drones in the skies over their community”, concluded O’Gorman.