Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

I apologise for the absence of our spokesperson on transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who must attend the Select Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. I admit to being somewhat bemused when legislation is presented by the Department of Transport as a priority. Although the last revision of the convention was in 1997 and Ireland signed it, nine years later we are being asked to ratify this document. The question is, why now?

The last aviation legislation before the House related to the Government underwriting liability in the event of dirty bombs. That legislation was rushed through and all Stages were taken on one day. It seems that legislation has not been replicated in other EU countries and that it has not even been applied. One must ask why we were presented with that legislation and whether we should give this Bill equally serious consideration given that type of track record by the Department and the Minister concerned.

That said, there is little in this Bill to oppose. However, it offers the opportunity to debate where we stand on air traffic control and the common responsibilities we have as regards our European neighbours. While the organisation and the convention are centred around civil aviation, I would like to think this debate offers us an opportunity to talk about other air traffic control issues which we, as a nation, seem to be blurring — that is, civil and military aviation — and how membership of this organisation and this convention could be used to bring clarity to those grey areas in the future.

The increasing number of military aircraft landing at Shannon Airport is a matter of great concern to people and the seeming indifference of the Government to those landings, whether involving troop movements or, more insidiously, the transportation of people for torture. That is something which should be subject to international agreement and for which the Government should be responsible. On those grounds, questions on landings at Shannon Airport, as recorded by air traffic control and as reported by US aviation officials, would benefit from clarification by a European body because we do not seem to be getting the correct figures. Perhaps when concluding, the Minister might use the opportunity to explain why there are varying figures with what seem to be phantom flights in and out of this country.

The central aspect of this Bill concerns membership of Eurocontrol by the European Community. I am at a bit of a loss as to why this is considered necessary because outside of Poland and the three Baltic countries, all other members of the European Union are members of this body in their own right. This issue needs explanation. Of the 34 countries, 22 are required to ratify this. I missed the Second Stage contribution of the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and I do not know whether he clarified this. However, if 22 countries are required to ratify this protocol to the convention, is Ireland the twenty second country? At what stage is ratification when this House passes the Bill?

That brings me back to my original point about the type of legislation presented to the House by the Department of Transport, the background information and the seriousness attached to it. On the question of seriousness, this is a Department of Transport Bill, Second Stage of which was introduced by a Minister of State at another Department and which is likely to be concluded by a Minister of State from yet another Department. I seriously question whether the Government is treating this legislation with any degree of seriousness. The Government seems to be saying this is matter of fact legislation that happens to be in the Department of Transport which seems to care little about whether or how legislation goes through this House. That is a matter of concern for those on this side of the House.

This Second Stage debate also gives us an opportunity to discuss European air traffic control and recent incidents, particularly involving Ryanair, and runway mishaps which might be indicative of the relentlessness of low cost airlines, the competition in that sector of the airline industry and of the particular pressures on air traffic control. This can only be tackled at a European level. There has been silence from the Government and from the Department of and the Minister for Transport in expressing concern about the incidents. The Minister for Transport should make statements about these incidents assuring people that proper measures will be taken in respect of air safety, as he seems to be doing belatedly on road safety.

The public has had confidence in air safety. The number of people injured or killed as a result of air travel is far less than for other modes of transport. When we see reportage of and an increase in such incidents, the Government has a responsibility to comment on them, offer reassurance, state the legislation in place and what enforcement mechanisms are being used. If there is a deficiency in any of those areas, it should move to fill in those gaps. The silence of the Government on many of these issues indicates a degree of indifference on this matter.

I refer to statements made in the Seanad on Tuesday night on the future of Cork Airport and its new terminal which has much to do with air traffic control and the number of passengers who will and will not be able to use that facility into the future. The Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Killeen, said the expectation was that the debt of the new terminal building in Cork Airport was to be met by the new company replacing what was Aer Rianta, the Dublin Airport Authority, but that it would not now be met. At best, it seems at least half the debt will be met by the new Cork Airport Authority. If that is the case, the Government has engaged in a huge deceit of people in the Cork region and it needs to explain itself.

I find it particularly incredulous that the excuse used by the Minister of State was that in forming this new company which is, in effect, the Dublin Airport Authority and which has responsibility as of now for Cork and Shannon, there is a fiduciary duty of care on the directors of that new company that they cannot enter into an agreement to underwrite a loan of €180 million on behalf of Cork Airport.

However, this was the very commitment given by the Minister for Transport in this House to elected representatives of the Cork region on behalf of the people of Cork, regarding a specific political promise that their expectations would be met. If there has been a slithering away from that commitment and promise, it is of a piece with the seriousness with which I have witnessed the Department and Minister of Transport deal with many transport issues and with aviation policy. As a representative for the Cork region, I am ashamed to state that it is of a piece with the manner in which the entire area of regional aviation policy, particularly regarding our other national airports, has been dealt with.

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