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

Section 32 of the Irish Aviation Authority Act 1993 provides:

The Minister shall, at least once in the period of 3 years beginning on the vesting day [of the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, 1 January 1994] and in each subsequent period of 3 years... appoint a person to carry out an examination of the performance by the company of its functions in so far as they relate to the application and enforcement of technical and safety standards in relation to aircraft and air navigation and to report in writing to the Minister the results of the examination.

Section 66 of the Bill amends section 32 of the Act to provide that:

the Minister shall, at least once in the period of 5 years beginning on the relevant day [in effect, 8 May 2020] and in each subsequent period of 5 years... appoint a person to carry out [such] an examination... and to report in writing to the Minister the results of the examination.

When section 32 was originally enacted in 1993, the IAA was not subject to extensive oversight and audit by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, EASA. While section 32 remains an important instrument in the oversight of the IAA, much of its intent is now addressed through oversight by EASA. As such, the policy view in crafting the Bill was that a longer audit interval of five years was now more appropriate. However, I have heard the concerns raised by Senators and have proposed an identical amendment to the Senator's amendment No. 3eto move the five-year period back to a three-year period.

Section 66 amends section 32 of the Act to explicitly provide that the Minister may, if she or he considers it appropriate, publish a copy of the report of the technical and safety examination. While the intention was always to publish the report, it was considered that there may be limited instances where it may be appropriate that the Minister should have the discretion to withhold the publication. However, I have heard the concerns raised by Senators and I have proposed amendment No. 3fa, which removes the Minister's discretion to withhold publication and requires the Minister to cause a copy of the report to be published on a website of the Government.

While I do not propose to accept amendment No. 3fas drafted, I believe amendment No. 3faaddresses in full the concerns raised by Senators.