Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)
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202. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is aware of delays in the Irish Aviation Authority issuing EASA Part 66 Category A maintenance licences and other relevant licenses to apprentice aircraft engineers; the reasons for these the delays; how he intends on remedying the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31952/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) that it has experienced delays to licensing processing times. The IAA's licensing division has recently increased resources to address demand.

The IAA has also confirmed that there are a significant number of engineering licensing applications, which are being processed in sequence, of which Category A licences are a small proportion.

Safety is the number one priority of the IAA and the issuing of a licence requires a very detailed technical safety review by a qualified expert in accordance with applicable EU regulation. Licensing applications undergo a rigorous verification process, and an application can potentially take a significant amount of time due the complexities involved.