Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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44. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the reason the military authorities did not act on foot of the first Health and Safety Authority report into the handling of dangerous and carcinogenic materials by Air Corps personnel without the appropriate protective clothing, adequate training or basic equipment, instead of waiting for the final report, thus prolonging the exposure of personnel at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel. [7298/17]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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We dealt earlier today with the questions on what has occurred for many decades in Baldonnel Aerodrome. I ask once again that the Minister of State take the required action to ensure protective clothing is provided and every single step is taken to ensure the current serving members of the Air Corps are protected.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The military authorities have advised me there was no delay in regard to the Air Corps response to the Health and Safety Authority report. On 21 October 2016, the HSA issued its report of inspection to the Air Corps. I am advised this was the only written report issued by the HSA on foot of three visits to Baldonnel during 2016. The report outlined a number of general improvements and recommendations and included the areas of risk assessment, health surveillance, monitoring of employees' actual exposure to particular hazardous substances and the provision and use of personal protective equipment.

The Air Corps responded to the HSA on 20 December 2016 outlining its improvement plan and indicating its full commitment to implementing the improved safety measures that protect workers and ensure that risks are as low as reasonably practicable. As I outlined earlier, this plan will be implemented over eight phases.

As recognised in the HSA report of October 2016, the Air Corps had already commenced activities of improvement and was proactive in implementing change before, during and after the engagement with the HSA. The Air Corps was pursuing a review of the risk assessment of chemicals process commenced in quarter 2 of 2015, in respect of which process the HSA provided advice during its visits, and a new approach to chemical awareness training within the Air Corps commenced in quarter 1 of 2016.

With regard to personal protective equipment, the military authorities have confirmed that the Air Corps provides personal protective equipment to all workers in the Air Corps, and they are required to wear such equipment in the workplace when necessary. These requirements are set out in a range of military policy and practice documents. The Air Corps improvement plan provides for further actions relating to risk assessments and training focused on personal protective equipment.

I assure the Deputy that the health and safety of the men and women of the Defence Forces is of the highest priority for me and for the military management and authorities.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the clarification the Minister of State has given on the military authorities' response to the HSA report. I was concerned that they waited until the report was finalised before taking any action. The Minister of State has now said the authorities had already started to take action but they had not taken action before the inspection process.

The HSA report made eight recommendations, seven of which I am told have been virtually implemented. Those were the easy ones and many involved dotting i's and crossing the t's. What exactly is involved in the eighth recommendation and how long will it take to implement it? Is the Minister of State confident that, as we speak, none of the Air Corps personnel is exposed to chemicals of the type that lead to diarrhoea 20 times per day, suicidal tendencies, anxiety, headaches, DNA alterations, discolouration and cancers? Are these chemicals now secure, with no personnel exposed to them? Do the personnel now have the equipment to deal with them? They did not have such equipment in the past.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I assure the Deputy that I wrote to the Chief of Staff earlier this year looking for a report indicating all the recommendations of the HSA for the Air Corps are being implemented. I will forward the Deputy a copy of the exact timelines for implementation. I apologise for not having a copy with me. I should have had a copy with me. Most of the recommendations are to be implemented by May 2017, but I am open to correction in that regard. The Chief of Staff has written back to me and there are a number of issues in the correspondence I want to address. I will be in correspondence with the Chief of Staff on an other occasion.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I was told the level of exposure to the dangerous, corrosive and cancerous chemicals was akin to the level following a chemical warfare attack on a daily basis. I mentioned reports I had seen earlier. The reports I saw were from 22 years ago, 20 years ago and three years ago. They highlighted the lack of identification for chemicals, the fact that there was cross-contamination of chemicals and no personal protective equipment, and a number of other issues. I cannot fathom why the military authorities here did not take action around the same time that the Australian authorities were taking action on the very same matter in 2000.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I am aware that a number of litigation cases are pending, dating from the period since 1991. Two protected disclosures were received in my Department in December 2015 and one was received in January 2016. Since my appointment in May 2016, I appointed independent individuals to carry out a review. The first felt he had not the qualifications to carry out the review so another was appointed in late August or early September.

That person submitted an interim review in late November. I have corresponded with the Defence Forces on all of these issues, which I take seriously because they affect the health and welfare of members of the Defence Forces, specifically the Air Corps.