Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Directive EC 2003/42 of 13 June 2003 deals with occurrence reporting in civil aviation. Occurrence can be regarded as any event which gives rise to a possible safety concern. The directive includes an option for member states to develop a confidential reporting system. Drafting of a statutory instrument is at an advanced stage and I expect that the measure will be transposed into Irish law in the near future. The objective of the regulations is to contribute to the improvement of air safety by ensuring that relevant information on safety is reported, collated, stored, protected and disseminated, so that the lessons learned from the reports can be applied to correct deficiencies and improve the level of air safety generally.

We should facilitate concerns of members who work in any section of the industry so that they feel protected and confident in themselves and there are no personal repercussions if they raise safety issues. This directive will help in that regard.

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