Results 4,061-4,080 of 5,763 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: With respect to the maps that we have been discussing, I want to read a short section of the IAA aeronautical service advisory memorandum No. 022, Issue 2 of 18 August 2016. According to the memorandum: It is the responsibility of the IAA to ensure that integrity of aeronautical data is maintained throughout the data process from survey/origin to the next intended user. That aeronautical...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: There has been some discussion of the IAA's role in respect of the R116 accident. Would I be right in saying that the IAA, at that time, had no statutory authority, as it were, to oversee SAR, and that to this day it still does not have a statutory authority to oversee SAR until such time as the Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020 is passed? Is that fair?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: The report suggests there was some ambiguity within the IAA as to its role in overseeing SAR operations in this country. Is that fair to say?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Yes, probably because SAR was traditionally done by defence forces or air forces in various countries.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: What I am trying to establish is that the ambiguity that is reported in respect of the IAA's involvement in SAR was justified ambiguity because there is not, to date, a statutory obligation. That statutory obligation will come in with the Bill we are now moving through the Seanad.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: The Bill will definitely underpin that, though.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: As for night vision, some concern was expressed as far back as 2015 about poor lighting in the cockpits of aircraft. Those aircraft were retrofitted for night vision technology. Maybe it is a bit unfair to ask Mr. Ó Conghaile this, and by all means he may tell me he cannot answer it because it was well before his time. Clearly, those aircraft were retrofitted. After the retrofitting...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I am being careful. To date, that night vision is still not universally applied across the entire operation. After the retrofit, was it the responsibility of the IAA to inspect the aircraft and make sure they were operating correctly vis-à-viscockpit lighting and so on?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: We will have all them up and running by then, will we?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: That is pretty good. I am being very careful, Chairman. I am not trying to apportion blame to anybody but I am trying to understand how it has taken more than eight years to get a system that has been put in place working and operating.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: At this stage I am happy enough the IAA will now have oversight and will be proactive in its oversight. I am a little concerned the charts and maps that are provided to aeronautical companies can be scanned incorrectly. It appears from the report that that seems to have been a problem. Four navigation systems, from what I can recall, failed on that day. I am sure the IAA has plenty of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: We all accept that, but the whole purpose-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: -----of air accident investigation is to learn the lessons it provides.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Is Mr. Ó Conghaile happy that the visual flight rules maps from 2017 are accurate today? Has he had a chance to review them?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Is it true that there was only one analysis carried out of the search and rescue system, which was in 2014? A report was delivered by the IAA at the time. Mr. Ó Conghaile is in the position now. I appreciate that the questions I am asking-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: A report was created by the IAA but it had no import because of the misunderstanding with respect to how much authority it had.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I totally accept that the IAA maps are accurate, but if an independent entity is scanning those maps, that is where we should have follow-up certification that the scanning is consistent with the actual maps. Does Mr. Ó Conghaile agree?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I wish to be clear on this. If I am an operator and the IAA provides me with charts and I scan them, somebody somewhere has to have oversight of what I scan and make sure that I have imported into my system what the IAA has on record and not missed out on part of it. Is that a fair point?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Irish Aviation Authority: Chairperson Designate (24 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: This is a serious issue. If the IAA is providing state-of-the-art navigational maps, which I believe it is, and an operator takes those maps and scans them into their system, somebody somewhere has to oversee the verification process to ensure that map has been accurately imported. That issue will have to form part of our report. Is Mr. Ó Conghaile saying that a private entity can...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Jan 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: My heart goes out to Ashling Murphy's family. I was particularly mindful yesterday of the first class kids lining the street. I have two granddaughters, Ellie and Isabel. I cannot imagine what it would take to explain to either of them the brutality by which the woman died. It is now a matter for the courts and Garda, so I will say no more about it. I was delighted to hear Senator...