Mr. Evan Cullen:

I will give the committee a briefing on this. Under current legislation which is section 32 of the Irish Aviation Authority Act 1993, there is a compulsion whereby the Minister must appoint a person to examine the safety and technical performance of the IAA and this must be done every three years. In the Air Navigation and Transport Bill, this is being extended out to five years. It is not immediately clear to us when one reads the Bill what the starting year is. The last section 32 examination took place in 2019. Under the current legislation it should take place this year but if the Bill is passed as is, it is possible that the section 32 examination will not be conducted until 2027.