Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the assistance of the Chair. I am almost finished. Mr. Purcell referred to those who remained and are availing of training in Florida and Ireland. They are paying more money for this training. What is the situation for families who cannot afford to pay further? This is the nub of the issue.

I do not wish to attribute responsibility to the Irish Aviation Authority for what has happened. Everyone, including the Minister, the Department and ourselves, has to find a solution and learn the lesson.

The Irish Aviation Authority runs its affairs competently and is financially sound. Ireland has the third best record in Europe and I commend the authority on this. What can be done for those families who cannot afford to pay for continuing training for their children? It is not a large group. Can a solution be found to help them? They acted in good faith. They had confidence in the imprimaturs given to the company by the various State agencies. This is the objective of this meeting. The lessons will be learned, the committee will issue a report and I am confident there will be resulting changes in the legislation. This is the second time we have been burned.

The Clearsky issue will have to be dealt with. I commend Deputy McHugh for his proposal. We cannot allow a situation in which directors have walked away from their responsibilities and abandoned these families. They have set up a holding company and a new company to provide refresher training to qualified pilots, which is legally permitted. This is making a mockery of corporate policy.

There is a role for the Director of Corporate Enforcement to look at all of this.

I thank the IAA for flying them home. The authority is assisting with those who can afford to continue training, but there are families which cannot and which have put their life-savings into this. These families acted in good faith. Let us try to find a solution for them.