Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ireland is a signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, known as the Chicago Convention. The convention sets down the rules for the operation of international air transport and established the International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN body that oversees the operation of international air transport. There are a number of technical annexes to the convention which set out standards and recommended practices that all signatory states must implement.

Earlier this year the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, consolidated many of the existing aviation safety rules set down in the technical annexes to the Chicago Convention in one new Annex 19 – Safety Management. Under national law, the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, has been assigned responsibility for implementing most of the Chicago Convention annexes in Ireland. These responsibilities include all aspects of aviation safety, including, for example, ensuring all aircraft on the Irish aircraft register are airworthy and that air transport operations are carried out safely by operators. It is intended that statutory responsibility for the implementation of Annex 19 will also be assigned to the IAA and that is the purpose of the draft order. The assignment of Annex 19 to the IAA will not result in the creation of additional responsibilities on the authority. As mentioned previously, the IAA has responsibility for the majority of the annexes from which the Annex 19 standards and recommended practices, SARPs, are drawn.

Section 58(2) of the Irish Aviation Authority Act 1993 requires that any additional functions conferred on the Irish Aviation Authority be done by way of ministerial order. Under section 5(7) of the 1993 Act, before the Minister can make such an order, a draft of the order must be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas and a resolution approving the draft must be passed by both Houses. The draft order was laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas on 30 October last and Annex 19 will become applicable on 14 November 2013. In accordance with these legislative procedures, I hereby present the draft order to the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications.