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

I will speak to the amendments, which I have not done yet. That will clarify matters. The requirement in Irish law for peer crew support derives from EU regulation 2018/1042. The regulation was developed in consultation with all stakeholders, including pilot representative bodies across Europe. The final regulation represents a consensual balance of the views of all stakeholders. The regulation came into effect in February last year and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency is required to review its effectiveness alter this year.

Under the regulation, each airline must enable, facilitate and ensure access to a proactive and non-punitive peer support programmes that will assist and support flight crew in recognising, coping with and overcoming any problem which may negatively affect their ability to safely exercise the privileges of their licences. It is up to each airline how it implements this requirement; whether it does so by itself with another airline or whether it does so with other parties, such as trade unions. The key point is that the obligation rests on the airline to ensure its flight crew has access to a crew peer support programme that is in accordance with the regulation. The IAA is the competent authority in Ireland in respect of the regulation. All Irish airlines have a peer support programme in place and the IAA has audited all peer support programmes as per the EASA requirements. Both Aer Lingus and Ryanair established peer support mechanisms years in advance of the legal requirement, indicating a voluntary commitment on the part of airlines to the principle and practice of crew peer support.

Amendment No. 3 and Senator Doherty’s amendment d4a propose additional national requirements over and above the EU regulation. The amendments propose that the IAA will be required to review airlines' peer support programmes every three years and to convene a national forum, the functions of which would include creating or encouraging the provision of a national crew peer support programme. In response, Government amendment c4a is proposed, which will require the IAA to undertake a review of the effectiveness of crew peer support programmes, and in so doing take account of many of the criteria as originally proposed by Senators, including addressing matters such as the promotion of use of a programme and trust in it; independence of peers from management or supervisory functions; and selection of training of peers. The Government amendment does not provide for a national forum as IALPA has requested. Following extensive engagement with IALPA, it is not yet clear how the objective of such a forum - the creation or encouragement of the provision of a national programme which would be accessible by aircrew from any airline - would be operationalised, funded or structured. It is also not clear what parties would be involved or the extent to which such a concept would be supported by airlines. The proposed aviation stakeholders' forum is a mechanism by which any safety relevant issues can be brought forward for attention and teased out in a consultative and collaborative manner, including issues relating to crew peer support programmes. If the aviation stakeholders' forum brings forward proposals to establish a crew peer support national forum, I have committed to legislate for that.

On the proposal for rolling three-year reviews, I would make the following points. Crew peer support programmes, while important, are only one element of the vast body of systems, rules and procedures designed to ensure safety in aviation. Hard-coding the IAA's efforts and conducting reviews every three years is potentially disproportionate and may unnecessarily divert the IAA's resources. If there is a review and if there is a need for a review subsequent to the IAA's initial review 12 months after the commencement of this Bill, then this can be pressed with the IAA at the aviation stakeholders' forum.

On the position that a pilot should be able to seek assistance from a peer not working in the same organisation, the EASA regulation places the responsibility on airlines to ensure they have effective crew peer support arrangements in place. A critical element in the process is for the airline to be guided by a peer on when a pilot needs to be rostered off and supported. The airline has to be satisfied that the guidance is coming from a source that it is satisfied with and has confidence in. What is being envisaged in this amendment is a different model to what pertains now. It is unclear how it would be operationalised and what the consequences would be from a legal liability perspective. The proposal requires careful consideration, input from the first IAA review and discussion at the aviation stakeholders' forum and as such, I cannot accept amendments Nos. 3 or d4a.