Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To be fair to the petitioner, he is not against the policy change itself, it is just that families that have been living in Ireland, who have been contributing, will be affected by the new €39,000 limit. He is just asking that the Minister would look again at the proposal and would perhaps put in a clause addressing their case.

Next is No. P00033/24, “Toxic Fumes on Aer Lingus Flights - Severe and Increasing danger to public health and safety - Urgent” from Captain Tom O'Riordain. On 5 June 2023, while operating as a captain on an Aer Lingus flight, the petitioner was poisoned by toxic fumes and rushed to Beaumont Hospital by emergency ambulance, where he stayed for five days. He had reported fumes on this particular aircraft when operating it the previous day and was assured the issue had been resolved. It was not. Aer Lingus failed to locate and isolate the source of the fumes. The aircraft was released for service in an unsafe state, putting crew and the public at high risk. After the petitioner's poisoning, oil was found in the engine of the aircraft and the engine was removed. Aer Lingus experienced 22 such fume events between January 2023 and January 2024. Extra correspondence came in on that during the night, and there was a request that it be read out. We are holding that correspondence until our next meeting in order to give ourselves a chance to go through it.

The secretariat sought the views of the Department of Transport and received a response that included an attachment from the air accident investigation unit. The recommendations are that the correspondence from the Department of Transport and that from the air accident investigation unit be forwarded to the petitioner for comment with 14 days. We will go through the correspondence that came through last night and we will raise it again at our next meetings. Do members have any views or is that agreed?