Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)

The Minister will be aware that there is great concern in the industry, particularly among the professionals, including pilots. EASA proposes to bring all European states under one standard with its proposed new flight time limitations. Recent European studies have shown that 50% of the pilots have fallen asleep without having informed their colleagues. Some 80% have said they made mistakes due to fatigue, and 40% have reported they have been involved in serious incidents due to fatigue.

The difficulty is that the agency wants to extend duty limits even further. The statistics I have outlined, together with scientific and medical evidence gleaned over 40 years, lead one to conclude that there is no justification for the extension of the limits. Quite the contrary, the numbers who fall asleep without informing their colleagues and who make mistakes due to fatigue and the number of serious incidents due to fatigue demonstrate the necessity to reduce the limits rather than increase them. The extension clearly causes great concern among the travelling population and the professionals in the industry. It is not a matter of pilots or professionals wanting to extend their break periods but of ensuring much greater safety. There is a disparity between the views in Europe and the United States on this matter. I would welcome the Minister's comments on that.

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