The Labour Party will support Fine Gael in giving priority to the development of a second airport in the greater Dublin area if both parties are in government together after the next election.
Labour's transport spokeswoman, Róisín Shortall, said last night that the party is fully supportive of Enda Kenny's plan to look into the feasibility of how and where a second airport could be located.
Mr Kenny said yesterday it was his "personal preference" to build a second international airport to serve the greater Dublin area and that in government he would carry out a "full-scale, thorough and comprehensive analysis" of the issue.
He said that as passenger numbers through the airport are expected to grow at the rate of 10 per cent a year, a second airport terminal was insufficient to meet future demands.
"Do we want another Heathrow-type development at Dublin airport? No, I don't. Because if the growth continues at 10 per cent, the second terminal will be at capacity by the time it comes into operation," Mr Kenny said.
Last night Ms Shortall said the party fully supported Fine Gael in looking at the development of a second international airport given the projected passenger growth, and she said the matter had been discussed by Labour early last year.
"In the medium to long term, it is not sustainable to keep going as we are." She said the party had no site in mind but it should be southwest of the city and said Kildare should be considered.
Meanwhile, the Green Party transport spokesman, Eamon Ryan, was at odds with a party colleague, Dublin Mid West TD Paul Gogarty, on the issue last night.
Mr Ryan told The Irish Times that the Greens "would certainly be open to a feasibility study" on a new airport. "I have no doubt we could work with Enda Kenny and Labour on this issue."
He said a feasibility study should be wider than looking at the establishment of a second airport and should look at aviation needs nationally.
However, Mr Gogarty yesterday accused Mr Kenny of "totally losing the plot" over his plans to build a second airport in Dublin, most likely in his constituency of Dublin Mid West. He said as he was not his party's transport spokesman, he would not comment on the wider implications of a second Dublin airport or the viability of such a move in the light of oil demand and climate change.
"But there are enough local arguments to knock this proposal on the head right now. Suffice to say, if this plan is being pushed by Fine Gael in a future programme for government, I will not be supporting Enda Kenny as taoiseach."
Meanwhile, Waterford Fine Gael TD John Deasy, who angered the party leadership by suggesting last week that Mr Kenny should step down as party leader if Fine Gael does not win the next election, told The Irish Times he would "not be retracting anything".
He accepted some people had difficulty with the timing of his comments. "But all I did was state party rules as they stand."
Mr Deasy declined to comment on the letter sent to him by Mr Kenny on Friday.
Mr Kenny yesterday dismissed the apparent disquiet in the party over his leadership and insisted he remains focused on winning the next election.
"Some people have tried to make a mountain out of something that is not an issue," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.