Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not want to put the question because we have not even got to talking about peer support crews in any meaningful shape or form.

The Minister of State is right insofar as the bulk of this Bill does not relate to regulatory provisions. The bit we are stuck on does. The bit we have been talking about for months now in this House and externally at private meetings is all about regulation. The charge in the letter today from IALPA that was received by the Minister of State and copied to all of us is that the only expert advice the Minister has received with regard to responding to the changes of regulation in the Bill is by the very body that should be providing that regulatory system under the law we are talking about. What we have now is the tail wagging the dog.That is not acceptable in any way, shape or form.

I am grateful to Senator Craughwell. What we have established today is that, despite the AAIU putting forward clear recommendations, there is a clear deficiency in the Department of Transport in that it does not have any aviation experts. Imagine a Department with responsibility for transport not having an aviation expert but buying the services of one every time that is required. When the Department needs it in the context of regulatory changes that are being suggested in what is the first Bill designed to regulate the aviation industry in a long time, the body that it took advice from as to whether it would accept or not accept something - whether it was needed or not needed - is the body we are seeking to legislate in respect of today. That is beyond comprehension. It really is not acceptable.