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

I thank the Leas-Cathaoirleach for chairing the session. I thank the Senators for their contributions and the amendments they tabled, some of which will now be included in the Bill before it is returned to the Dáil. While we may not have agreed on all of the provisions in this Bill, we have worked constructively to reach a compromise on a number of provisions, including crew peer support programmes - the amendment introduced following our engagements - which will require the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, to undertake a review the effectiveness of the crew peer support programmes, the amendment providing for the IAA to convene an aviation stakeholders forum and the provision requiring the IAA to publish a licence holders charter setting out the standards of engagement that will be undertaken by the IAA with the holders of licences. Our constructive engagement has also seen an amendment introducing reducing from five years to three years the time interval for statutory safety examinations of the IAA. Connected to this is the amendment removing the Minister’s discretion to withhold publication and to require publication of the report on a website maintained by the Government. Finally, an amendment to provide that the IAA consult with stakeholders in the preparation of its statement of strategy has been introduced.

The Bill provides for significant institutional changes to how aviation is regulated in Ireland. Specifically, at a high level, it provides for the separation of the IAA with the safety regulation side of the IAA to be merged with Commission for Aviation Regulation, CAR, to create a stand-alone aviation regulator. The Bill also sees new mechanisms being introduced with regard to aviation regulation and engagement, for example, the forum and charter and new responsibilities for the IAA in response to an aviation sector that has changed significantly over the past 29 years since the enactment of the Irish Aviation Authority Act 1993. This Bill, upon enactment, will make a real difference to how aviation is regulated in Ireland for the benefit of the travelling public and the aviation industry alike.

I thank my officials who have put in a significant amount of work on this Bill and have been completely engaged throughout the process and wanted to work with colleagues across the House. I thank the staff of the House and everyone involved in bringing this legislation forward.