Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to reiterate that no recommendations were made to Irish authorities or bodies at all, and I would not like to see people bringing Irish industrial relations issues into what was a really tragic incident for which Irish authorities had no responsibility. The purpose of this and any associated investigation is not to apportion blame or liability. A safety recommendation in no case shall create a presumption of blame or liability for an occurrence. A number of entities had safety recommendations made to them, which I mentioned, and under EU law they are required to respond to them within 90 days. We expect them to do so.

There were four recommendations made to the European Commission regarding flight time limitations, to which the Deputy referred; the role of the ticket seller; the improvement of safety oversight; and the oversight of operating licences, which relates to virtual airlines. Three recommendations were made to the European Aviation Safety Agency relating to successive instrument approaches that can be conducted in certain meteorological conditions; the syllabus for the appointment of the commander; and the process by which the air operator certificate is granted. Two recommendations were made to the operator, Flightline SL, regarding its operational policy and training. One recommendation was made to the Spanish agency regarding the oversight of air carriers such as the one in question. One recommendation was made to ICAO regarding the inclusion of the approach and the capability of aircraft, flight crew and plans. It is fair to say that everything from instrumental issues to training and flight time limitations are addressed in the report. In each case, recommendations were made to the appropriate bodies, none of which was Irish.

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