Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I do not know if the Minister is aware that the European Commissioner for Transport is due in Ireland today or tomorrow to meet the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA. Coincidentally, the meeting of the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport was cancelled this week. We were due to hear from representatives of the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association, IALPA, but for the second time the meeting was cancelled. There are different arguments as to the reasons for the cancellations. There was some very important evidence to be given by Ryanair pilots to the committee. I know that the media are worried about covering this issue because a lot of advertising revenue is generated by Ryanair, but it is a very serious issue in terms of the level of public interest. We are compromised on the question of aviation safety in this country because of the relationship between the IAA and the airlines it is supposed to regulate.

Given that 700,000 passengers recently faced disruption due to the cancellation of Ryanair flights, the light thrown on the airline's activities in respect of health and safety and the irregular working hours and conditions of pilots, does the Minister think it is important that pilots address the joint committee? Should the outcome of whatever discussions the Commissioner has with the IAA today be made public in the House?

I have very serious and genuine concerns about the protection of the public interest. I am not trying to stir things up, but we need to listen carefully to what the pilots have to say and what they are saying about the regulatory authorities. The chief concern is that the IAA, unlike all other authorities regulating aviation across Europe, was set up on a commercial for-profit basis. It collect charges and other revenue from the very airlines it regulates. It collects most of its revenue from Ryanair. To give an idea of the amount of money involved, last year the IAA made a profit of almost €40 million. Its CEO, Mr. Eamonn Brennan, receives a salary of €344,000 a year. The IAA regulates the safety of the airlines from which it is making money. There is a toxic relationship between the regulatory authority which looks after air safety and the means by which it collects its revenue. As I said, such an arrangement is illegal in many European countries and there are significant implications for the working conditions of the pilots concerned, an issue I will discuss. Is the Minister aware of this relationship? Does he think it compromises the safety of civil aviation in this country? Does he think it is acceptable that the IAA has been established on a profit-making basis which allows it to have what could, at best, be described as a dysfunctional relationship with the airlines it regulates?

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