Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is sad that we are dancing on the head of the pin of words when people's lives have been lost because of a lack of in-house expertise. I will just say that much.

Regarding the Minister of State's response on amendments Nos. 1 and 2, it is striking. I am 50 years old and I have never in my lifetime seen a regulatory authority refuse powers in the way we are seeing the IAA refuse powers in the context of this legislation. It is astounding. The Minister of State said that she wanted the forum to be broader than just licence holders and she suggested some people whom she thinks should be there. To my mind, they would dilute the conversation and the charter that would arise from it. Therefore, I would like the Minister of State to reiterate exactly who she would like to be there and what input she thinks they would have into a safety charter for the licence holders to operate under.

I would also like another explanation. The Minister of State also referred almost to a separate entity. I refer to a situation where if we do not have what we have been seeking in legislation, in respect of there being transparency and the ability to compel compliance with the legislation, that either or both Houses of the Oireachtas could compel representatives of the IAA to come before us in a committee to allow us to ask questions at any stage. Given, however, that the IAA does not answer the questions posed by the people it is regulating, and ignores them, I would like to know on what basis or in the context of what legislation it will be possible for either House of the Oireachtas to compel representatives of the IAA to come before us to answer questions and to be responsive to the Members of both Houses.