Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would slightly quibble with that. I do not believe mentioning areas of expertise that are needed will dissuade individuals because it is needed across and we have this in a lot of other legislation. We have it, for example, in terms of the Climate Change Advisory Council. I can list off legislation in which we recognise that a range of expertise is needed across the entire team. It does not mean that every individual has to hit these different standards, either what I look for in amendment No. 6 or in terms of amendments Nos. 7 and 8 from Sinn Féin, which talk about what is needed in terms of master mariners and various other qualifications and practical experience. I do not think looking for that precludes it. It makes the team as a whole more agile in that its members know they have the skills to draw on right across an investigatory team. I am concerned. We have seen situations, for example, in the first Climate Change Advisory Council, where it ended up with six economists and no environmental scientist because there was no thought to ensuring there would be certain expertise, and that can sometimes happen. You get a number of similar individuals who come forward and the breadth of what is needed is not addressed.

I urge between now and Report Stage, if the Minister of State is not addressing it in the Bill, that he look to what the mechanisms there are to ensure he gets the breadth of skills that are going to be needed in what is a very serious responsibility of investigating accidents and how that will be monitored so that the gaps that may arise across that team are identified and dealt with. Again, the idea of just a sole discretionary piece for the chief investigator is not enough, and that is something Sinn Féin has spoken to. I urge the Minister to reflect on this between Committee and Report Stages and, when we come back on Report Stage, he might let us know what the mechanisms actually are going to be rather than simply saying we want to be open, flexible and agile. Agility might be one of the skills that is needed, but there are many others that are needed as well.