Mr. Evan Cullen:

There are a number of ways the information is derived. There are the original surveys that were done over the past 100 years. That information has all been digitised. We also have ground mapping radar from the NASA shuttle and a satellite owned by Airbus. These all give varying degrees of accuracy with regard to pixels and how much area is covered by each pixel. They are expensive. Obviously, the more accurate, the more expensive. That is how it works. Also, when they are more accurate and more detailed, we have to have people in to eliminate unnecessary detail. That is another problem we have. Mapping is expensive no matter who needs it but we are obliged to do it. We are obliged to provide this information. There is a get out of jail card, however. It is possible to say to the ICAO that we are not doing this and we do not know. A big box would go over Ireland and it will stated that Ireland has not properly adhered to Annex 4, but we have never done this. We have never filed a difference saying we will not adhere to Annex 4.

When I sit into the cockpit, normally we fly under instrument flight rules. We rely heavily on the databases that are contained within the computer system at the airport.