Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The purpose of an order under section 16(6) is to set down a date before which all claims on foot of any indemnity must be received so that the State can be certain that all claims have been received and that compensation can be apportioned appropriately. The purpose of this Bill is to allow civil aviation to continue to function in the face of a withdrawal of certain insurance by the insurance market. However, if there is an incident involving a dirty bomb or an electromagnetic pulse it cannot be said what would happen after. We do not know. A decision on whether indemnities would be withdrawn would be taken after the incident. An order made under this subsection is intended to wrap up any claims against the State on foot of indemnities. While it is not envisaged that more than one order would be made, my advice, from the Office of the Attorney General, is that there is nothing in the current text preventing further orders from being made in the event of a subsequent incident leading to claims. On that basis, and on foot of the advice of the Attorney General, I do not propose to accept this amendment.

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