Amendments Nos. 3 and 4 are technical amendments relating to the vesting of AirNav Ireland. Amendment No. 3 to section 14(3) of the Bill clarifies that the functions conferred on AirNav Ireland by the Bill, which are currently functions of the IAA, will transfer to AirNav Ireland on vesting day and not on commencement of the Act. Amendment No. 4 deletes sections 19(2), 19(3) and 19(4) of the Bill, which relate to ministerial certification of the value of the property to be transferred to AirNav Ireland from the IAA…

The provisions replicated section 19 of the 1993 Act. This was originally when the IAA was being taken out of the Department of Transport. It was, I suppose, an error in the drafting. The valuation exercise is prior to the set-up of the vesting process between the IAA and AirNav Ireland. There is no intention that AirNav Ireland would have a debt to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Basically, this is a drafting error. It is a cut and paste from section 19 of the 1993 Act when the IAA was being taken …

Amendments Nos. 5 to 7, inclusive, are technical amendments developed in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General, which amend section 29 of the Bill, which deals with the accounts and audit of AirNav Ireland by removing references to balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and to cash flow statements. The purpose of these amendments is to reflect the changes that have occurred in financial reporting terminology.

The Companies Act refers to balance sheets. However, there is also provision for the move to the term "statement of financial position" as provided for in accounting standards and as used in general in accounting practice. For example, section 274(1) of the Companies Act 2014 provides that: “balance sheet”, in relation to a company, means a statement of assets, liabilities and financial position drawn up at a particular date showing the assets, liabilities and equity of the company at that date in a manner required…

Section 41 of the Bill provides that the proposed AirNav Ireland may charge for the functions performed by it pursuant to EU regulations listed in Schedule 1. Schedule 1 of the Bill lists 21 such regulations which relate to air navigation service provision and communications. Amendment No. 8 is a technical amendment which provides that the Minister may by order add or delete from the list of EU regulations listed in Schedule 1. This amendment ensures responsiveness to changes at European level vis á vis EU regulati…

On Committee Stage, I committed to giving further consideration to the points made by Senators regarding the frequency of the meetings of the stakeholder forum. Amendment No. 9 provides that the stakeholders forum will meet no less than twice per year.

Amendment No. 11 is a technical amendment which removes an unnecessary circular reference in the text of section 76.

It states that the consultation with stakeholders cannot commence until section 76 is commenced. It is basically a circular reference.

Amendment No. 11.

Amendments Nos. 12 and 13 aim to address some of the concerns raised by Senators in the context of requiring that the names of the organisations represented on the forum to be published on the IAA website and that the rules and procedures ensure a focused representative participation by organisations in the forum and, for the purposes of transparency, the publication of the minutes of the forum.

Amendment No. 14 is unnecessarily prescriptive. It is for the IAA to propose the chair of the forum, subject to consultation with the shareholders. There will be that consultation process as part of this.

As regards amendment No. 15, there is nothing in section 76 precluding the IAA from establishing subgroups of the aviation stakeholders forum to address specific issues and involving specific stakeholders. Indeed, the IAA is looking at the models of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, EASA, stakeholder advisory board and the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, panel structure in terms of development of the forum and subgroups. The purpose of the licenceholders' charter is for the IAA regulator t…

The requirement in Irish law for crew peer support derives from EU Regulation 2018/1042. The regulation was developed in consultation with all stakeholders, including pilot representative bodies across Europe. The final regulation represents a consensual balance of the views of all stakeholders. The regulation came into effect in February 2021. The IAA is the competent authority in Ireland in respect of the regulation. All Irish airlines have a peer support programme in place and the IAA has audited all peer suppor…

Yes.

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 undert…

I thank the Senators for the opportunity to speak to the Seanad about the importance of public transport. I am taking this debate today on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who could not be here. I am confident we can all agree that it is essential that Government continues to invest in the public transport network, and that we are supportive of the Government's commitment towards delivering an accessible, affordable and reliable public transport network throughout the country. I can confirm that Governmen…

I am taking this motion on behalf of the Minister for Transport. I thank Deputies for the opportunity to speak to the House about the importance of accessible, affordable and reliable public transport. I am confident we can all agree it is essential that the Government continues to invest in our public transport network and that we are supportive of the Government’s commitment to delivering an accessible, affordable and reliable public transport network throughout the country. While the Government will not oppose t…

I would like to thank Deputies McAuliffe and Devlin for giving me the opportunity to discuss this issue on behalf of the Minister. I understand that the Deputies' questions are on the ongoing issues with the provision and reliability of bus services provided in Dublin, in particular those services provided by Go-Ahead Ireland. I further understand that the issue of service reliability with Go-Ahead Ireland routes was previously raised by several Deputies in recent weeks during Topical Issue debates and parliamentar…

I thank the Deputies. I will be raising the issues they have raised with the Minister. I want to reassure them that the NTA is engaging regularly with Go-Ahead Ireland and other public transport operators in regard to any service provision issues on the PSO network, and the NTA is providing regular updates to the Department of Transport in regard to these issues. I can also confirm that, as part of the NTA’s contractual performance monitoring system with operators, issues of poor reliability and punctuality perform…

I thank the Deputies for the opportunity to discuss further this issue. I understand that, similar to the issue raised by Deputies McAuliffe and Devlin, this matter relates to ongoing service delivery issues with bus services provided by Go-Ahead Ireland and the urgent need to address these. The Department has responsibility for policy and overall funding in respect of public transport and is not involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services nationally, including those PSO routes in Dublin curre…