Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for attending the meeting on pre-legislative scrutiny today and for bringing things to this point. There is still some way for the legislation to go. The Minister made a personal commitment when we dealt with the last legislation to address the issue of the quorum of the MCIB and he was aware the committee had wider concerns that needed to be addressed. He committed to coming back with legislation. I welcome that we have reached this stage. I look forward to working on the detail and getting legislation and a well-resourced unit that is fit for purpose in place. I acknowledge the efforts of the Minister and his officials in getting us to this point.

I will focus on the recommendations of the 2021 Clinch review. I welcome the publication of the Lacey report, as I believe all committee members do. I will return to that later. The committee has repeatedly asked for the publication of the full Clinch report and I repeat that call here today. I suspect I know the Minister's answer, but it would be helpful to the overall process if we had the Clinch report. Six straightforward recommendations and two observations have been provided to the committee. One of the observations relates to the wider issue of the multi-modal accident investigation body. A number of the recommendations are relevant to this legislation and to the establishment of the MAIU and how it should work. Some should already be in place. I am not sure whether they are.

I will go through the recommendations. They include the immediate and urgent appointment of a chief investigator to work to establish a functionally independent MAIU. The words "functionally independent" are important. The recommendations refer to the development of a reporting structure and staffing model in line with the air accident investigation and rail accident investigation units; the recruitment of a chief inspector designate; the disbandment of the MCIB once the MAIU is in an operations-ready state; the provision of suitable accommodation separate to the Leeson Lane headquarters of the Department; and the publication by the Department of a protocol governing the relationship between the Department and the MAIU that clearly sets out how the independence of the accident investigation board will be safeguarded. That is a reference to the European level judgment on ensuring independence. On the observations, the report suggests that the Government consider co-location of the MAIU, the AAIU and the RAIU in a place separate from the Leeson Lane headquarters. In reference to the 2020 report and drawing on the Lacey report, consideration should be given to forming a multi-modal accident and investigation body. The Minister touched on that in his opening statement. On those points, which are a starting point or minimum bar for this legislation, is the Minister satisfied the legislation will address the recommendations from the Clinch report?