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

I wish to start by asking the Minister some questions. Can he confirm why the report was delayed for so long, prolonging the suffering of the families and their loved ones? Can he also confirm if CHC was the interested party that objected to the report's findings? In addition, can he clarify whether this report was altered or amended in any way as a result of those objections?

The families have rightly said that the crew was let down badly, and this is true of CHC and of the IAA. The family of Captain Dara Fitzpatrick said that when the crew was killed that they were badly let down, and that "We believe that Dara and the other crew members of Rescue 116 were badly let down [not just] by [...] CHC [in] not providing them with the safe operating procedures and training", mapping, proper life jackets etc. They were indeed let down by CHC, but also by the Irish Aviation Authority, by the Department, by the Ministers who over many decades allowed this to happen and by the State itself in its enthusiasm for contracting out core services and the responsibility of the State itself.

The Minister said that he believes this was a tragic, unforeseen accident, but I do not believe that this was a tragic, unforeseen accident. When costs are prioritised in tendering out core services, then serious risks are created and the potential for costs in lives. It would not be said that the CervicalCheck debacle was an unforeseen accident and it cannot be said that this was a tragic accident either, because the awarding of such core public services to for-profit companies, whose bottom line is their profit, ensures that nothing takes priority over that profit. That includes safety, training, workers' conditions and putting people's lives at risk.

On the question of mapping, I encourage Deputies to go back over Katie Hannon's "Prime Time" report on the accident. I say that because it was not just Blacksod Bay that was missing off the map. In addition, Achill Island was depicted on the quarter-inch map as having no high ground, whereas in fact, Achill Island has two peaks that are over 2,200 ft high. Equally, the most westerly of the Blasket Islands off the coast of Kerry appears on the chart to have the highest point of 276 ft - I am referring to when these maps were being used - when in fact 660 ft is its highest point. On Rathlin Island, the map shows a lighthouse with an elevation of 243 ft, whereas the island has a highest point of 440 ft. Moreover, it was reported that there is no spot height on the map referring to the 1,400 ft mountain peak near Malin Beg. It goes on and on. People should read back over those reports and articles. There is then also the question of how the life jackets were faulty and the fact that the crew members complained continuously while maps were not kept up to date and they were blurry. Indeed, right up into the months before the accident happened, the crew members continued to complain about the faulty life jackets and the warning beacons that were misplaced inside them.

The responsibility and the failures here start with the failure of this State in every way. It includes the failure to provide wing cover from the Air Corps because of a lack of funding or a lack of personnel. That responsibility and failure continues with the role of the Irish Aviation Authority. I am sure that the Minister will say that has been dealt with through the reorganisation of the IAA and the commercial arm that deals with airlines but the underlying weakness and light-touch regulation of the IAA is not addressed in the new and more powerful body. In fact, the head of that new body is a former CEO of Ryanair, an airline with a notorious view on the rights of workers and consumers and on general safety and concerns for its staff. If that is not enough to confirm that light-touch regulation continues, then I will eat my hat.

Despite what the report said, there is also no doubt where responsibility lay for the maps and safety. A briefing provided by IALPA to all Deputies makes it clear that the IAA had the responsibility and that is a State body. If we are to fully honour the crew of Rescue 116 and all Air Corps and sea rescue personnel, then we must do more than to simply accept the recommendations in this report. We must end the light-touch regulations in bodies such as the IAA and we must also end the tendering of and obsession with cutting costs for vital public services and ensure that the State operates such vital services itself. Therefore, I call on the Minister to say to us, perhaps not here tonight, but before the contract in this regard is awarded, that it will not be awarded to CHC. If that contract is awarded to CHC, which has major responsibility for the loss of life in this case, then the dedicated staff and personnel employed to look after our safety at sea and to rescue us will be highly insulted. It would be ironic, and tragic, for the State to do this.

I express my solidarity to the families of the crew and I commiserate with them for having had to wait for so long for this report to be published. Regarding the contract for this service, which is worth billions of euro, should not the State itself, as has been said by previous speakers, take full responsibility in the role of providing our air and sea safety and rescue services? I say that in the context of this potentially service being contracted out for billions of euro to a company that has put the lives of people at risk, instead of taking on the responsibility ourselves. I ask the Minister to comment on those points and to try to answer the questions that I asked him about the criminality inherent here. Ultimately, I believe the State owes the families an apology. This accident would not have happened were it not for things that happened through previous decades. Indeed, when Deputy Calleary was making his contribution, I was reminded that Fianna Fáil established the IAA in its initial form and contracted out the services and structured that aspect in the way it did when it was in power. Those aspects must be addressed by the State, and the families are owed that full apology and explanation from the Minister.

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