Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am satisfied and I hope the committee will find something similar in its pre-legislative scrutiny. If there are any concerns, I look forward to discussing them when the committee sends its report, on Second Stage or at any stage in the legislative process. The principle recommendation was the establishment of an MAIU structure, similar to what we have in the rail and aviation sectors. We are doing that. It will be similar in its scale and in its relationship with the Department. We will use the Public Appointments Service process to appoint a chief inspector and the four or five other inspectors who are likely to be appointed. We do not know how long the legislative process will take but as soon as we get a clear timeline and know when the legislation might be enacted, we will start that process. There is no point starting before that.

It is a similar situation with finding suitable office locations to bring a certain amount of independence in line with the legislation. It should allow the MAIU to work closely with the Department, for example in settling the budget during the Estimates process. Locating it outside the Department's offices is a useful step in the direction of greater independence. It also may provide the option, which I am not opposed to, of a multi-modal investigation unit for air, rail and sea. It does not have to be done immediately. It would be better for us to establish the MAIU separately and then the possible co-location of units in shared offices might steer us in the direction of further developing that process.

As it is so similar to what we have in the rail and aviation sectors, the protocols around the relationship with the Department are already reasonably standardised. The finding of the investigation was not a criticism of any particular investigation or of any of the officials or board members involved. It pointed out that having two Department members on the board was a problem as it goes against the clear intention of the directive. We were happy to rectify that. The file has been closed. The transition period will be important to ensure one system leads into the other in a seamless way. I am confident we can do that. The timelines will depend on the timelines of the legislation.