Mr. Jim Gavin:

I thank the committee for inviting the IAA to this meeting and to contribute. The IAA regulates the aviation sector in Ireland. I joined the IAA in 2011 as a flight operations inspector in the airlines standards division, with my last aircraft type rating on the Airbus A830 family of aircraft. Since then, I have held various senior management and regulatory roles across flight operations, airworthiness, air traffic services, airspace management, aviation security and unmanned aircraft systems. I hold an airline transport pilot's licence and have over 30 years of experience in the aviation industry. I am a former commissioned officer and military pilot, with over 20 years of service in Óglaigh na hÉireann - the Irish Defence Forces - at home and overseas. As the Cathaoirleach mentioned, I am joined by Enda Walsh, manager of the unmanned aircraft systems division within the IAA. He has worked in aviation for 14 years, with a background in UAS, airspace and aeronautical information management, instrument flight procedure design, air traffic control and software engineering. Mr. Walsh joined the IAA in 2017 and represents it on the UAS technical advisory body of the European Aviation Safety Agency, EASA, and the broader global regulator co-ordination body, the Joint Authorities on Rulemaking for UAS, JARUS. He is a former commissioned officer, with 13 years of service in Óglaigh na hÉireann - the Irish Defence Forces - where he served in both the Air Corps and the infantry, again at home and overseas.

The IAA is the single regulator for civil aviation in the State. The IAA’s remit includes economic regulation, consumer protection, as well as the regulation and enforcement of civil aviation, security and safety, which includes regulating unmanned aircraft systems, or drones as they are more commonly referred to. Ireland has led the way in the regulation of this sector, being the first state in Europe, and one of the first worldwide, to introduce drone regulations in 2015. The national regulation was superseded by European regulation in 2019, and the European Aviation Safety Agency keeps pace by advancing the European regulatory framework, which governs this technology. The IAA is proactive and a respected contributor in the related European working groups and task forces, bringing our experience and safety focus to these rule-making processes.

The role of the IAA is to ensure drone operations are conducted safely in compliance with the EU regulations. European aviation regulation details the rules by which drones may operate within the European Union. This regulation applies uniformly throughout the EU and the IAA, as the competent authority, ensures it is applied effectively within the State. The oversight and regulation of drone operations is risk-based. This means that the more complex the drone operations, the more requirements and safety mitigations required to ensure their safe operation and the safety of the public.

Drone operations are broadly classified into three categories based on risk: open, specific and certified. The low-risk open category, for example, includes the smaller, off-the-shelf drones used for recreation, photography or smaller survey operations, whereas drone delivery operations fall into the medium-risk specific category, which requires an explicit authorisation from the IAA. Higher risk certified operations are not yet in effect, but are expected in due course. They will include air taxis, international cargo and high-altitude operations.