Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Government amendment No. c4a provides for the IAA to convene an aviation stakeholders' forum with a broader membership than licenceholders. The purpose of the aviation stakeholders' forum will be as follows: to promote the sharing of best practice aviation safety initiatives; to engage with the IAA on matters relating to the regulation of aviation safety; to elicit views on proposals for EU and national regulatory changes in terms of aviation safety; and to enable the sharing of aviation lessons learned, best aviation practices, aviation safety performance indicators and the provision of information on specific aviation safety risks.

The Government amendment requires that the IAA publishes a licenceholders' charter that sets out the standards of engagement that will be undertaken by the IAA with the holders of the licences. The new aviation regulator has acknowledged the need to provide a forum and a licenceholders' charter for the licensing community, and the aviation regulator is fully committed to same. Additionally, under section 77 of the Bill, whenever requested by a committee of one or both Houses of the Oireachtas, the aviation regulator can be called to account for the performance of the IAA's functions, and have regard to any recommendations made on such, including in terms of these measures.

In bringing forward this amendment I am making a very significant concession in light of the issues that have been pressed. I think that we can all agree that there is no difference in substance between us in these matters.

The aviation stakeholders' forum will provide a means by which any safety relevant issues can be brought forward for people's attention, and teased out in a consultative and collaborative manner. This includes the issues relating to crew peer support programmes, which is important to IALPA.

In conclusion, Government amendment No. c4a will address the substantive issues that have been raised by Senators and IALPA, which feels that in the past their members' voices were not heard by the IAA. I, therefore, hope this proposal can be accepted.

An issue arose concerning the distinction between a licenceholders' forum and a stakeholders' forum. I will expand on the matter because it will clarify the need for a stakeholders' forum. This was a substantive issue that was raised by Senator Doherty's amendment. It is that distinction between an aviation stakeholder as opposed to a licenceholder.

Under the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, EASA, regulatory safety system, which concerns Regulation 2018/1139 and associated implementing rules, there are a number of identifiable stakeholders. I will cut to the chase before going into great detail by saying that the term "licenceholder" would lead to the membership of the forum being too narrow and exclude, for example, airlines and airports. The identifiable stakeholders are as follows: licenceholders, which mean individual pilots, air traffic controllers and aircraft mechanics; certificate holders, which are organisations that have been audited and deemed to meet the safety regulatory requirements, such as airlines, EU certified airports such as Cork, Shannon and Dublin Airports, maintenance providers and approved training organisations; and declared organisations, which are organisations that make a declaration to the IAA that they comply with specific rules such as declared training organisations, non-commercial complex aircraft operators, and special operations like aircraft used for specialised activities such as agriculture or surveying.In addition, under national regulations, other terms, such as "permissions", "approved organisations" and "people operating under permits", are used. By using the term, "licence holders forum" in primary legislation, we may inadvertently limit participation to just pilots, air traffic controllers and mechanics, with no scope for others who would have an important input into and roles to play in respect of aviation safety.

I consulted with the IAA, and my expectation is that the membership of the aviation stakeholder forum will be drawn from: recognised aviation sector trade unions, for example, IALPA and Fórsa; certified aviation organisations, such as air operator certificate holders, certified airports, approved training organisations, and certified maintenance organisations; representative bodies, such as the Federation of Aerospace Enterprises in Ireland, FAEI; recognised aviation stakeholder groups, such as the International Air Transport Association, IATA, for airlines, and the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations, IFALPA, and the European Cockpit Association, ICA, for pilots; declared organisations, which are those organisations that make a declaration to the IAA that they comply with specific rules; and other interested parties, such as the Air Accident Investigation Unit, AAIU, AirNav Ireland and EASA. As the focus of the forum is on aviation safety, the inclusion of representation from the areas of the travel trade, tourism, hotels and passenger rights is not envisaged. I hope this provides some perspective on this issue.

While I cannot accept the amendment, I will reflect on the points raised before Report Stage. There were questions regarding the scheduling of meetings. The Government amendment states that the IAA determines how often this forum will meet. Having listened to Senators, we can look at this issue on Report Stage.