Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Acting Chairperson to indulge me for a moment, because I was not here on Second Stage. I wish to talk about the merits of the Bill very briefly. The purpose of this Bill arose from a directive from the European Union on the basis that our regulatory system was combined with the part of the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, that looks after the regulatory standards and the regulations that all of our licence holders have to work under, and the commercial division which its revenue sources were derived from. It made no sense to the European Union to have both of those under the same umbrella. That is where the directive came from that gave rise to the bulk of this Bill.

The Bill is really welcome, but I must say that if putting one part of the regulatory authority in one room and another part in another room, when we still have exactly the same source of funding, appeases that directive and the concerns that were raised by the European Union, I have to question the directive. However, it is where it is, and a huge amount of work has been done by the Minister of State to bring forward this Bill. While I am supportive of the Bill as it stands in the main, I have huge concerns about what is absent from the Bill. The reason we are here, and the reason there has been such a delay in reconvening Committee Stage of the Bill since the last time the Minister of State was here, is because of the considerable unease and unrest among the Members of this House and all of those who own the licences that operate the aviation industry in this country. We have an aviation industry that is absolutely crying out to be regulated. It is pointing out at every possible turn and opportunity what is wrong with regard to the safety and the lack of regulation in this country and what needs to be done to address that safety and lack of regulation. It has painstakingly highlighted and provided details of the amendments to the legislation that it would like to see its own members be adjudicated under and be subject to.

The course of lobbying has gone literally full circle around the House, with the Minister meeting those licence holders yesterday evening. As Members of the Oireachtas, we have met the CEO-designate of the IAA. We have met the Minister of State and her officials on numerous occasions. I have met Rose Hynes, who is the chair of the IAA. We have attended these meetings to absolutely and fundamentally make the case that this is a most bizarre situation whereby an industry is crying out for regulation and more rules for it to be governed under, but the officials in the Department, the Minister and, most disturbingly, the regulator think we do not need those rules. I am here today to talk about various sections of the Bill and different amendments. I will have objections to further groupings of amendments as we go along.

The first amendment today, which is in my own name and those of my colleagues, concerns the licence holder forum. The purpose of this meeting is absolutely sacrosanct-----