Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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36. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if his Department contacted the companies or persons that carried out the 1990s safety reports into aspects of the Air Corps' safety procedures at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, on behalf of the State agency Forbairt in order to ascertain if they might still have copies of the reports that his Department claims to have lost. [32262/17]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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This is a simple question and, to some degree, a follow-up to an earlier question. It seeks to nail down what actions the Minister, the military authorities or his Department have taken to track down at least four health and safety reports on Air Corps installations which were carried out in the 1990s and have vanished. Are we to depend on the Irish Examiner's Joe Leogue's investigative journalistic skills to unearth more information, as has been the case to date?

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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As I have previously indicated to the Deputy, I was advised by the military authorities that a report on measuring carbon monoxide fumes from aircraft was complied by Forbairt in 1995. A further report on monitoring air contaminants in workshops in 1997 was also compiled by Forbairt.

Unfortunately, following an extensive search and the military authorities having consulted with Enterprise Ireland, which superseded Forbairt, and having also conducted a broad range of searches within the Department, it has not been possible to locate these reports. I understand that Enterprise Ireland advised the military authorities that records were not kept beyond ten years and that records had been disposed of in 2007.

The military authorities have indicated that the Defence Forces have neither hard copies nor electronic copies of the Forbairt reports. The military authorities have indicated that there are a range of potential causes of the loss of these reports, such as the changeover of electronic recording systems in 2004 or that the reports were misplaced over time. However, this is purely speculative.

This matter was raised with me in recent correspondence in which certain allegations were made that the documents had been destroyed. The correspondence in question was also addressed to the Chief of Staff and to the Deputy, and I have requested a report from the Chief of Staff on the actions taken on foot of the accusation. When the report is to hand, I will consider it further and consider whatever steps may be required.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I may be of some assistance to the Minister. He has answered some of the questions I was going to ask. He has asked the military authorities about the reports. I do not know how in-depth that query was. Did they ask the key personnel involved in commissioning these reports whether they recalled commissioning them, whether they had sight of them, whether they ever had possession of them or whether they perhaps put them into the National Archives where, as the Minister said, all the files on Jadotville are? He said his Department contacted Enterprise Ireland directly. Perhaps I can be of some assistance in this regard. One of the reports was Dr. Joe Kearney's 1997 report on monitoring air contaminants in the workshop. He did the report on behalf of Forbairt, which carried it out on behalf of Lieutenant Colin Roche of the engineering wing of the Air Corps in Baldonnel, and it was given to the Air Corps on 9 January 1997. Did they contact Conor Tonra, an environmental consultant who carried out the ambient air monitoring for health and safety at work at the engineering cleaning area, the welding shop and the paint shop? The publication date of that report is 2 August 1995. It was carried out on behalf of the noise and vibration section of Sound Research Laboratories Limited; Environmental Engineering Limited, which had an address in both Cork and Dublin; and Forbairt. Principally, however, it was carried out on behalf of Captain John Maloney. As far as I know, the military personnel I have indicated and both the consultants who carried out these reports are still with us today and some are still operating. Has any contact with them been made to find out whether they have their own copies or whether those organisations have copies that might be useful to the Minister? Only two of the four reports that we know have been carried out have come to light so far. As I said earlier, perhaps the Minister might ask the whistleblowers we met recently whether they will give him copies of at least two of the reports.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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As I have stated, I have written to the Chief of Staff and asked him to investigate the reports that were alleged to have been carried out by Forbairt. I await his reply but I note in the reply to a parliamentary question given earlier today that Deputy Ó Snodaigh has stated he has copies of some of the reports. I do not have copies of those reports but I would very much appreciate having them. If we are to progress the health and safety issues in the Air Corps, and if we are all concerned in this House about the health, safety and well-being of the men and women of the Air Corps, it is in all our interests that the Deputy give me a copy of those reports. As he will be aware, there are ongoing litigation issues at present and I am limited in what I can state but I will say that it would be in all our interests if the Deputy has copies of the reports that I get a copy of them and that the health and well-being of our members in the Air Corps is satisfactory.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Personally, I would have no problem acceding to the Minister's request but, like him, if someone gives me something as a whistleblower, I am not at liberty just to hand it over. I will contact the whistleblowers and ask if they wish me to pass the reports on to the Minister. However, the Minister had sight of them, I am told by the same whistleblowers, when they met him. I do not know whether he asked them at that stage for a copy of them. Perhaps he can do so if he contacts them. There are other reports from 2014 which he might be interested in and about which he should also ask the military authorities because I can guarantee him that those reports have not been shredded, as was the intention with the two reports I cited earlier. I would be happy to comply with the Minister's request if the whistleblowers allow me to do so. There is legislation in place that prevents me from disclosing anything other than the fact that I have the reports. I would love to share them with the Minister to be helpful, and I encourage the whistleblowers to be as helpful as possible, but the people I mentioned earlier are still living and working. They should be contacted to see whether they have copies. These are only two of at least four reports that we know were carried out in the 1990s.

Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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There are four reports from different reporting periods. I fully accept that the Minister did not shred or mislay these reports, but he was the individual tasked with explaining what may have happened to them. He will understand why we - and I think the public - find it difficult to believe the suggestion that all four may have been lost in translation over to the electronic system or that, over time, they just coincidentally disappeared. In the absence of a realistic and reasonable explanation, people will draw their own conclusions. The Minister mentioned the ongoing litigation. One must ask the question if there is a sinister motive as to why these reports are not available where they should be. Is there some reason or some motivation why some body, person or group may have wanted to destroy these reports? These are the questions being asked. We have access, we believe, to perhaps two of these reports. There may be more. Getting copies now is not the problem; the issue is that we potentially have four reports that could bolster the cases being taken against the State - four reports that, potentially, were purposely destroyed.

We do not know who did it or why it was done but the public is drawing its own conclusions and ultimately, Deputy Kehoe is the person responsible.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The buck will always stop at the Minister's desk, but I am glad that the Deputy has said that I did not destroy the reports. I absolutely did not destroy the reports. I had not seen any of these reports, and I have stated to both Deputies that I have written to the Chief of Staff, who has primary responsibility for the Defence Forces. These reports were carried out under the auspices of the Defence Forces and within the Air Corps. I have asked when these reports were carried out, what detail is available from the reports and who carried out the reports. The Deputy informed me of a number of names today. I will bring that information to the Chief of Staff and will write to him either this evening or tomorrow with the names of the people that have been passed to me today.

I am not sure if this is sinister. I cannot comment on that, but I have asked the Chief of Staff to look into this, find out where the reports are and investigate this thoroughly. We are all interested and concerned about the health and well-being of members of the Air Corps. If people have reports I ask them, as Minister of State at the Department of Defence, to provide copies of these reports in order that I can look at them when I am making a decision on the independent reviewers and the further actions I must take. These reports would be very handy to have when I am deciding.