Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House to discuss this legislation. At the outset, I want to be associated with the remarks on and recognition of the appointment of Pádraig Ó Céidigh as chairman of the Shannon Group. I recognise he is a man of immense skills and wisdom, somebody who has a vast amount of experience in the aviation sector. In addition he is a west of Ireland man and he understands the importance of regional balance. Together with the experience he has, I believe it signals the dawn of a bright future for the aviation sector on a regional basis. It will be important that he and others who represent or work within the aviation sector outside of the Dublin base are given the support of the Government.

The Minister of State, in setting out her position, said that it is open to the Government to set priorities to develop aviation policy. A very considerable amount of lip service has been paid to regional supports and policies that are there to support the regions.The reality is that precious little has been done. This Bill presents a real opportunity. The Minister of State spoke of the capacity in this legislation to allow for the setting of maximum tariffs at airports. I contend we need to consider the setting of minimum charges as a method of ensuring a fair share of supports and activity is diverted towards the regions where possible. It will always be the case that an airport like Dublin will be most attractive to airlines. It is legitimate for the Government to establish policies that seek to encourage airlines not just by way of fluffy language but hard measures that make it attractive for them to generate profits outside of the main airport. That may be by way of route support, as my good friend, Senator Buttimer, said. It is important to provide State funds to the airports to attract airlines. We must also examine ways to curtail the unbridled growth of Dublin Airport. When you talk to citizens in and around Dublin they recognise that the airport prior to the Covid pandemic had reached levels of saturation in terms of the impact on traffic both on the ground and in the air, and that this needs to be addressed. It is possible to come up with ways of ensuring airlines see it as an attractive option to offer services to airports outside the capital city.

On the legislation, clearly, it is a straightforward Bill. There is a recognition it provides for the institutional reorganisation of how aviation regulation is provided in Ireland. The Minister of State rightly identified the necessity to separate the two components. We welcome that but, notwithstanding that, like Senator Craughwell and others, I, too, have been contacted by the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association, IAPA. I know it has written to the Minister of State. It has outlined very clearly a need for a number of issues to be addressed in this Bill, particularly the need for graduated sanctions for breaches of regulations, the creation of an inclusive licenceholders forum, clarifying working time provisions, providing legislative underpinning for pilot peer support programmes and the creation of a charter for licenceholders. I have read its documentation and all those issues make sense to me. I noted some of the Minister of State’s comments when the legislation when through the Dáil. She seems to believe, and I presume from her perspective it is well-meaning, that perhaps it is not the place for the Government to intervene in hardwiring this into legislation but the IAPA president, Evan Cullen, and others have certainly made a strong case. I hope we can thrash this out in greater detail on Committee Stage to find some common ground and seek to ratify some amendments.

I know from the Minister of State’s time in this House she will not be taking this House purely in an expected way such that the legislation has to go through this House because it went through the Dáil. There may be aspects of the legislation we can tease out in a non-partisan, careful and considered way that may benefit the long-term future of the sector. I have some further views and ideas on the pricing situation the Minister of State spoke about and some of the issues raised by the IAPA on which I will speak on Committee Stage.

The Minister of State will be familiar with documentation circulated in the media and by way of letter to the Minister for Transport by a certain group of workers in the Irish Aviation Authority. I do not intend to read into the record all the issues outlined in it as some of them are of a personal nature and individuals are named. We certainly do not want to get into that business in this House. Issues have been raised about the closure of State airports. I will read into the record a few paragraphs that relate to that. The letter states:

As you are aware on a number of occasions an air traffic control service was not available at State airports due to the lack of air traffic controllers. Cork Airport closed for a period on July 25 and Shannon Airport on July 26. The closure of Dublin airport on August 6 was narrowly averted thanks to the actions of the ATC Branch committee.

The letter also states: "The closures and non-availability of Air Traffic Controllers ... is as a result of years of sustained and abuse of the air traffic control staff" by certain aspects of management".

These are significant charges made by workers. I did not receive this mail but other members on the committee and in the Houses have received numerous copies of this letter from many members of staff. Air traffic controllers by their nature are highly skilled and highly trained professional people who have been trained to withstand significant pressure associated with the very important job they do. For people of that calibre to sign up to a document as direct and as concerning as this letter leads me to believe there is a significant problem there.

I hope the Minister of State together with the Minister for Transport will engage in a process. Senator Buttimer and I have suggested, through the joint committee, the Department might engage with outside consultants with experience in industrial relations who would bring an approach or process that would hopefully avert a further weakening of the position. These workers raised issues around dignity in the workplace. They also raised safety issues. The letter further states that it is their opinion that the safety of the Irish air traffic control service has never been more compromised than it is now. It also states that they have no doubt that the current conduct of certain sections has greatly impacted safety. That is a very strong statement for so many people to sign up to.

The letter further states there can be no doubt that “pressurising safety critical employees to attend for duty under protest and duress without due regard for fatigue or fatigue caused by inappropriate ... circadian rhythm will result in increased risk of an air traffic incident or accident. This issue is specifically encompassed in the requirements of EU regulation 373/2017". I cannot over-emphasise the importance of addressing this.

On the area of separation, these workers also have issues about pension rights and entitlements and whether that gets resolved prior to the vesting day when the IAA will be split into two companies. Many issues need to be thrashed out. I hope we can address them as apart of the Committee Stage phase of the work in this House. I thank the Minister of State for her attention.