Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not finished. We had an accident a number of years ago, Germanwings Flight 9525, which gave rise to the conversation and the EASA regulations that we now enjoy throughout the European Union. It was an Airbus A320 that crashed into the Alps in Nice. The 144 people on that plane all lost their lives that night. Six crew members were on that plane and they are all dead. The crash was deliberately caused by the co-pilot, who had been previously treated for suicidal tendencies and declared unfit for work by his doctor. He kept this information from his employer, because he was afraid, and, instead, he reported for duty. Shortly after reaching the cruise altitude, when the captain was out of the cockpit, he locked the door and initiated a controlled descent that continued until the aircraft collided with the mountain. I cannot even begin to imagine the effect on the families of those crew members and all of the people who lost their lives. That was a tragedy of enormous proportions, which happened because he did not trust his employers enough to tell them of his condition and ask for help.

Something very similar has been expressed in Ireland about the lack of trust in the peer support programmes that are currently being operated. The uniformity of and trust in peer support programmes are absolutely fundamental and essential to ensuring that not one of our pilots ever feels that they cannot ask for help. We have heard from Irish pilots at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications that much-needed trust does not exist in today's peer support programmes. That is why it is essential that we put peer support on a legislative footing.That is what we are resisting here. We are resisting amendments that try to make aviation safer for the licence holders and all the passengers who put their lives in the hands of pilots every day.