Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to put on the record that I think there is something very strange about this situation. For ten years, the Irish Air Line Pilots Association, IALPA, has been raising concerns with successive Governments and Ministers for Transport, Tourism and Sport regarding the IAA's effectiveness in fulfilling its safety, regulatory and oversight obligations.

We know that the first interim report into Rescue 116, published last year, highlighted a continuing lack of clarity on individual and collective responsibility for oversight of all aspects of search and rescue, SAR, aviation operations in Ireland. What happened? In May of last year, the Minister said he had asked his officials to review current oversight arrangements without delay. The Irish Air Line Pilots Association, which says it has been highlighting this matter for more than a decade, stated around the same time that it was seeking an early meeting with the Minister to address these issues. Did it get this meeting? The first interim report called on the Minister to conduct a thorough review of oversight of search and rescue operations. In January, he said he had initiated a review, work on which was ongoing. Essentially, these issues have been raised since a 2010 audit but the gaps remain. Why has the review the Minister initiated not concluded? These matters are incredibly urgent and I am extremely worried about the lack of serious detail that is emerging.

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