Mr. Maurice O'Connor:

I wish to come back to Deputy Troy's questions.

In 2016 the European Aviation Safety Agency, EASA, completed an in-depth five-day audit of the Irish Aviation Authority. It was across all of its main operations. The executive summary stated that, overall, the authority had demonstrated its capabilities to discharge its responsibilities in the certification and continued oversight of its operators. There is an accompanying ranking chart developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO. The rating is based on continuous monitoring. While the EASA normally carries out inspections of the Irish Aviation Authority every three years or 36 months, depending on profile, we also submit information to the ICAO on a regular basis. Our ranking on the ICAO chart is based on the amount of information we supply to it. From this ranking we can understand Ireland must be extremely compliant with international standard rules. That is how we attain our world standard of safety.

I was also asked about the safety regulations. I confirm that all of our operators comply fully with EU Regulation No. 965. That is how the Irish Aviation Authority's 24-month audit programme was developed. It is quite intense and since its introduction we have found that it works well.

I shall let Captain Courtney comment on flight time limitations, FTL, which formed part of the questions asked by the Deputy.