Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to address the issue of the licenceholders' charter. Other Members have expressed their support for what I said about mandating when meetings take place. I do not see why that cannot be prescribed in the legislation to ensure that no change of management or personnel deters from the situation.

In terms of the letter supplied by Captain Gavin, I was reassured by the fact that there would be no veto by any stakeholder. As others have asked, if personnel change will we still have the same guarantee?

Amendment No. 2 concerns the licenceholders' charter, which I do not think is addressed in the Government's amendments. I understand that when anybody raises a concern there is no prescribed formula for how it will be addressed. We gave the example of one incident where IALPA reported a concern to the Irish Aviation Authority but did not get a response, was not told when it would get a response and there was no interaction. IALPA compared that situation with what happens with its British counterpart where a response is given within two weeks and there must be a response. We can learn from best practice in other jurisdictions. The reason we mentioned issues concerning the licenceholders' charter was that it would mandate the way the IAA interacts with IALPA, ensure there is proper consultation on proposed new regulations and queries would be answered.

The Government's amendment does not specify the right of a licenceholder to get an answer to a technical query or to be given an explanation of an interpretation of a regulation. My understanding is that the right to a response is limited to licensing issues. The letter from Captain Gavin refers to the licenceholders' ability to submit specific queries to the IAA but his letter does not confirm that they have a right to get a reply, which is an issue that has been raised by many of us. We can all raise concerns until we are blue in the face but if one is not going to get a response then that is problematic. I ask the Minister of State to explain why the scheduling of meetings, and the interaction with IALPA and the IAA cannot be put into legislation.