Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Himmer from Volkswagen and those from SIMI for coming before the committee. Mr. Himmer told Deputy Dooley that this was a software coding problem. It seems to me that it was not a mistake, and that it was deliberately rigged in such a way as to give the impression that the emission regulations were being met when they actually were not. That is how it appears to me. Was this software developed in-house by Volkswagen or by a software company outside Volkswagen, which may have supplied other car manufacturers with the same kind of system?

Could this problem affect other car manufacturers in Europe or worldwide? It seems to me that it borders on something criminal. If somebody deliberately rigs a system to get around a safety and emissions system, it appears criminal. We need to know who was responsible for the software coding. It obviously comes down to some individual or software engineer. Do we know who that person is and, if so, what action is being taken to deal with that problem? A family member of mine works full-time in the motor industry. There are all kinds of implications for the credibility of different companies. Everybody has held Volkswagen in very high regard for many years and suddenly, out of the blue, we hear of this problem. People are asking whether this problem is affecting other models of car manufacturers. I would like to get specific answers to those questions.