Mr. Conor King:

I will do my best. With regard to the scheme, the consultation and so on, it is quite clear that we have issues but they are not insurmountable. We remain open for business as regards dealing with the Department to get to the level we need to reach. In relation to consultation and engagement with the Department, we conduct regular surveys of our members, asking them about various things. There is certainly a feeling that consultation and engagement could be better.

The Senator spoke about the issue with air traffic control and asked whose fault it is. We are not playing a blame game here. In her opening statement to the committee, the Secretary General of the Department of Defence alluded to not having received a business case from the Defence Forces in respect of air traffic control. That was in the opening statement. It is not for us to apportion blame. What we are concerned with is ensuring that the service commitment scheme is implemented in a timely fashion to prevent the collapse of a significant service.