Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the witnesses taking time to come in and deal with these serious issues. My first question is to Ms O'Keeffe. I understand she is soon to depart from service in the Department of Transport. I hope that she does not feel as though she has been thrown under the bus today. Can she confirm that the Department does not have internal expertise in the area of aviation? I understand it advertised for an aviation expert. The closing date was December last year and the Department has still not appointed an aviation expert.

I refer to the maps used by CHC. I understand the maps were scanned to feed into the navigation system and the scanning left the maps a couple of inches short, which left Blackrock Island out of the system. Who is responsible for oversight there? Does Ms O'Keeffe accept that the IAA has no statutory obligations with respect to the SAR group and that is part of the forthcoming Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020?

I believe the families should be encouraged to take legal advice as to which jurisdiction they will go to to resolve the loss of their loved ones. Families have been left without an income as a result of what happened. All agencies involved, including the Department of Transport, the Irish Coast Guard and the IAA need to reflect -----