Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this very sombre exchange this evening. I thank the Minister for bringing this important report to the House. Like others, I pass my sincere condolences after many years on to the family members and friends of all those who lost their lives in the ill-fated R116 tragedy of March 2017.

Quite frankly, what happened that night was avoidable and should not have occurred. When we speak of this incident we must bear in mind that these crew members made the ultimate sacrifice to protect others, they did so thoroughly and this occurred through absolutely no fault of their own. We must remember that all four crew members on board did absolutely everything correctly and by the book. They were not at fault for what happened that evening.

We have all seen the very concerning report on the flight compiled by the AAIU, which outlines 12 factors that contributed to the crash. I will deal with some of those this evening. The main finding of the report is that the crew on board the helicopter were not aware of the location of Black Rock Island because it was not on their maps or navigational system. They had absolutely no way of knowing the rock was there and so had no way of avoiding the crash, given the poor weather conditions they experienced.

I will not repeat the comments others have made this evening but it is worth focusing again on a point raised by Deputy Darren O'Rourke. Although the crash took place in 2017, in 2013 a pilot emailed CHC Ireland, the company which the State contracted to operate these helicopter flights, stating that neither Black Rock Lighthouse nor Black Rock itself was visible on its flight database or navigational equipment.

Again, this was flagged four years prior to the R116 flight. We can all agree that while hindsight is 20-20, clearly a major error was made here that cost four people their lives. This is hugely worrying and disappointing both for the families affected by the R116 flight, and for the crew members who currently operate SAR missions for the State and their families. We all deserve to be safe and protected at work, and this line of work is absolutely no different.

The report further found that there was no formalised, standardised, controlled or periodic testing of flight routes. Even if there were issues that were not flagged, they would not have been discovered. The crew was flying at night under cloud cover at 200 ft above the Atlantic Ocean. They had no chance of seeing Black Rock without their navigational equipment flagging it for them. I cannot stress enough how disappointing this is. When we ask people to put themselves in harm's way to save another person, it goes without saying that everyone involved will do all he or she can to ensure everyone is safe. Frankly, was not the case for those involved in SAR missions.

The report states that there should be no presumption of blame or liability in this accident. I respect that and, like Deputy Conway-Walsh, I do not want to say anything that would jeopardise this. However, we have to be capable of asking the hard questions in this House to ensure that when we finally study this report, and if the Minister brings conclusions, it is assessed in a comprehensive manner.

A second concern I want to raise is that of oversight, including the oversight of CHC Ireland and, indeed, everyone involved in the contracts. The Department negotiated the contract to provide this vital work, but there is major confusion about who was overseeing this. Put simply, who governs CHC Ireland? Who was there to ensure regulations were being followed, security protocols were in place and personnel were safe? There was a presumption that the IAA was overseeing CHC Ireland. This has not proved to be correct. What is the role of the Department here? It cannot be the case that huge sums of money are passed on to companies to provide these services but no checks or measures are in place to ensure they are being put to safe use. The families of those lost that night deserve clarity on this and the current active members of the service deserve this too. I urge the Minister to provide clarity on this and to step in to provide this oversight if it is not already in place. These are difficult conversations to have but we cannot shy away from them.

I understand the Minister has accepted the 42 recommendations in this report and will evaluate them in the coming weeks. I urge him to do so as quickly as possible. It is too late for us to save Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, Captain Mark Duffy, winchman Ciarán Smith and winch operator Paul Ormsby. It is not too late for us to honour them by ensuring this tragedy never happens again.

Once again, I thank the Minister for bringing this to the House, and the families of those lost for their perseverance and tenacity in facing such hardship. I urge the Minister to act as swiftly and thoroughly as possible.

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