I will try not to. The IALPA representatives have engaged with us, as have the IAA representatives. To me, IALPA's concerns comprise the premier issue. I want to see its concerns met. The reason I want to see them met is that we have a documented history in this country of pilots making complaints and raising issues of concern, including in respect of health and safety, and of those issues being ignored. We lost four decent, honest, hard-working crew when Rescue 116 went down. The litany of instances of disregard f…

The Minister of State has come quite a distance during the discussions on this Bill. I mention the licenceholders forum and the discrete group of pilots, licensed mechanics and air traffic controllers are the people who are on the front line when there is an accident and whose expertise is questioned at those times. For example, the aircraft technicians record the details of where every nut and bolt that is put into an aircraft was made, when it was made, who made it and all that sort of stuff. These are the key pe…

Take your time.

We are entitled to speak so let us not rush things here. The bottom line on it is that pilots will speak to pilots. They will also speak to their engineers and air traffic controllers because those are the three groups that work together and they need their own forum. I welcome the notion that there would be a minimum of two meetings per year because I accept what the Minister of State is saying in that there may be times when you would want to have several meetings when various issues come up. However, I cannot ac…

Following on from what Senator Doherty said, I am long enough around and have worked in enough organisations in my life to know that when there is a very broad church such as the Minister of State is proposing, it is possible to manipulate the way in which a forum works. Interested parties may be brought together in order that the voices of the minority group are drowned out. We are talking about air safety, which requires the input of pilots, who witness near misses every day of the week, engineers, who are respon…

I am sure they are witnessing near misses.

I do not deny or reject anything the Minister of State is saying. However, for the life of me, I cannot understand what a certificate holder, for instance, will bring to the forum that would in any way change the outcome compared with having only pilots, air traffic controllers and mechanics involved. There is such a wide list. I would love to have that list, go through it line by line and have the Minister of State explain to me what each of these people would bring to the table in a forum. We are talking about sa…

The Minister of State read out the qualifications of people that are available within the IAA. This legislation is about regulating the IAA. I would hope its people have the qualifications she is talking about but that is not the issue.

The Minister of State talked about the expertise that was available. She spoke specifically about the expertise brought in on the matter of search and rescue. I assume we are talking about the same company we have always spoken about, which is the company from Scotland, Aerossurance. I have repeatedly asked what expertise this company has. The Minister of State and the Minister have written to me and told me that this particular individual, and it is a one-man operation, brings in the expertise that he needs from t…

Not commenting on a live tender is allowing the Minister of State to pull down the curtain of secrecy over expenditure by this State. The taxpayers of the State will pay for this. We paid through the bloody nose for the last one, we did not get the regulation we should have got and four people have lost their lives. What is the expertise of the individual in question? As far as I am aware, the tender for the expert who is advising on the current process has already closed, which means there is no problem telling us…

I move amendment No. 4A: 77 a. In page 55, to delete lines 37 to 41 and substitute the following: “(2) On an annual basis, and whenever so requested, the Chief Executive or a relevant officer shall account for the performance of the company’s functions to a Committee or both Houses of the Oireachtas and the company shall have regard to any recommendations of such Committee relevant to its functions.”.

We have debated this Bill for quite a considerable period of time and I am anxious that it would pass Committee Stage and give us time go back to a critical issue and that is the issue of peer support. I understand how far the Minister has come and all I ask is that we finish the Committee Stage and between now and the Report Stage, that we have an opportunity to engage on the issue of peer support and see if there is any possibility whatsoever for a little movement on it. It is the only issue of concern that is le…

Before we come to Report Stage.

I appreciate that.

I accept the Mininster's bone fides.

I want to thank the Estonian ambassador, H.E. Kairi Künka, who set up a visit for me two weeks ago to a number of interesting cybersecurity places in Tallinn for the Louth Meath Education and Training Board to go out and see how a cybersecurity centre of excellence actually operates. With that in mind, I want to thank the NATO centre which brought us in and showed us its system. CR14 brought us in and showed us its system. I also thank CybExer and the Tallinn University of Technology. What we saw was out of this wo…

No pensions.

Who pays the money?

Yesterday, we had a debate on the issue of search and rescue procurement. Most of those who spoke agreed that there were questions to be answered and called on the Minister of State to answer them. The Minister of State was aware of the questions I have been asking since August. I asked them on the floor of the House yesterday because they needed to be asked. The Minister of State was not coming in to be surprised by me or anybody else. I say to everybody that when we allow Ministers to come before the House to pro…

I appreciate that.