DÁIL ÉIREANN AN ROGHCHOISTE UM IOMPAR AGUS LÍONRAÍ SELECT COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS Déardaoin, 17 Meitheamh 2021 Thursday, 17 June 2021 Tháinig an Romhchoiste le chéile ag 9.30 a.m. The Select Committee met at 9.30 a.m. Comhaltaí a bhí i láthair / Members present: Teachtaí Dála / Deputies Joe Carey, Cathal Crowe, Hildegarde Naughton (Minister of State at the Department of Transport), Darren O’Rourke, Ruairí Ó Murchú, Duncan Smith. Teachta / Deputy Kieran O’Donnell sa Chathaoir / in the Chair. 1 STC Business of Select Committee Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020: Committee Stage Chairman: Deputy Leddin is substituting for Deputy Matthews. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the House or an of- ficial by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. I also remind members that they are only allowed to attend the meeting if they are physically present in the Leinster House complex. In this regard, I ask that prior to making his or her contribution to the meeting, any member who is participating by Teams would confirm that he or she is on the grounds of Lein- ster House campus. The meeting has been convened to consider the Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton. It was agreed at the private meeting of the committee on Tuesday that due to the clash with parliamentary questions on transport that are currently taking place in the Dáil, I will be as flex- ible as possible in respect of the consideration of this Bill. In that regard, if members who have submitted amendments are not present when the section arises, I propose that those sections will not be dealt with at the time but will be taken at the end of the Bill. Is that agreed? Agreed. I also remind all members that should a vote be called, members must physically come to the committee room in order to vote. We will now proceed with consideration of the Bill, to which 27 amendments have been tabled. Does the Minister wish to speak on every section of the Bill or just on those sections that members have queried? Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Deputy Hildegarde Naughton): I will speak only on the sections queried by members. Sections 1 to 9, inclusive, agreed to. SECTION 10 Chairman: Amendments Nos. 1, 2 and 26 are related and may be discussed together. Deputy Hildegarde Naughton: I move amendment No. 1: In page 12, lines 11 and 12, to delete “an tSeirbhis Aerloingseoireachta na hÉireann” and substitute “Seirbhís AerLoingseoireachta na hÉireann”. Amendments Nos. 1 and 26 are technical amendments to section 10 and the Long Title of the Bill, simply making the Irish spelling of the service provider consistent throughout the Bill. Amendment No. 2 provides that the IANS may describe itself as Air Nav Ireland or ANI, which will assist the company to develop its commercial branding into a strong, unique and recognisable identity. The use of IANS, while suitable for the legislative provisions of the Bill, may not have a strong enough impact in the commercial world. The Finnish air navi- gation service provider describes itself as Fintraffic, while in Denmark it is Naviair and in 2 17 June 2021 Norway it is Avinor. Using Air Nav Ireland or ANI, as proposed, will support the new com- pany in exploiting its commercial opportunities, while still retaining the official name of the company and its Irish form. Amendment agreed to. Section 10, as amended, agreed to. NEW SECTION Deputy Hildegarde Naughton: I move amendment No. 2: In page 12, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “Alternative or additional names for IANS 11. Notwithstanding section 10, the IANS may, for operational purposes, describe itself by any of the following, whether as an alternative to, or in addition to, any other name by which it may describe itself by virtue of this Act: (a) Air Nav Ireland; (b) AirNav Ireland; (c) ANI.”. Amendment agreed to. Section 11, as amended, agreed to. Sections 12 to 14, inclusive, agreed to. SECTION 15 Deputy Hildegarde Naughton: I move amendment No. 3: In page 14, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “(3) (a) The Minister may direct in writing the IANS to pay a dividend to the Ex- chequer of an amount determined by him or her and the IANS shall comply with the direction (including any period specified in the direction within which the dividend is required to be so paid). (b) The Minister may give the Board such general directives concerning the financial objectives of the Board as he or she considers appropriate and the Board shall, in per- forming its functions, have regard to such directives.”. This amendment provides that the Minister for Transport may direct that a dividend is paid to the Exchequer and may give a policy direction to the company’s financial objectives. The intention of this amendment is to enhance the financial influence the State has over its com- mercial company. While the IANS will be a fully commercial State company, transitioning from a commercial company with regulatory functions, it must also be aware of its continuing obligations to the State. This amendment provides comfort, certainty and clarity to the com- pany and the State in financial matters. The provision may never be needed. Indeed, I cannot think of any recent case where it may have been considered. Providing this clarity will ensure that there is no uncertainty in the future when it comes to financial matters. It is[Interrup - 3 STC tions], considering that we are forming a new company. Amendment agreed to. Section 15, as amended, agreed to. Sections 16 to 46, inclusive, agreed to. SECTION 47 Chairman: There are two amendments. We will take amendment No. 4 first. Amendments Nos. 4 and 5 are related and will be discussed together. I ask the Minister of State to move amendment No. 4. Deputy Hildegarde Naughton: I move amendment No. 4: In page 34, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “(b) The IANS shall not prosecute an offence relating to an authorisation to aircraft to proceed.”. This amendment and amendment No. 5 clarify that the new commercial body, Air Nav Ire- land, will not have the role of enforcement of offences under section 47. Currently that role lies with Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, as the regulator. It will remain there and this amend- ing clarifies that. The proper procedure for any incidents that arises is for the service pro- vider to report it to the regulator. This amendment removes any ambiguity on these roles and responsibilities. Amendment agreed to. Deputy Hildegarde Naughton: I move amendment No. 5: In page 34, line 28, to delete “(b) In paragraph (a)(iv)” and substitute the following: “(c) In this subsection”. Amendment agreed to. Section 47, as amended, agreed to. Sections 48 to 55, inclusive, agreed to. SECTION 56 Chairman: Amendments Nos. 6, 7 and 18 are related and may be discussed together. Deputy Hildegarde Naughton: I move amendment No. 6: In page 40, line 6, to delete “stored;”.” and substitute the following: “stored; ‘Irish Coast Guard’ means that part of the Department of Trans- port that is known by that name;”.”. This is simply a technical amendment that provides a definition for various coastguards for drafting purposes. Amendment No. 7 seeks to strengthen the Irish aviation safety regulatory 4 17 June 2021 framework applied by the IAA concerning aviation activities of the Irish Coast Guard. These include search and rescue, medical transfer and firefighting. These are currently regulated at national level. This amendment will align the regulatory and oversight activities by the IAA with European aviation safety regulations. Amendment No. 18 provides that the Minister for Transport may make regulations to exer- cise the option of Regulation No. 2018/1139 on common rules in the field of civil aviation to apply certain elements of the European regulations to coastguards and search and rescue avia- tion activities. Currently these activities are regulated by member states at a national level. It is done in this State by the IAA. The main roles of the Irish Coast Guard, IRCG, are to rescue people from danger at sea or on land, to organise immediate medical transport or to assist boats and ships within the State’s jurisdiction. The IRCG is responsible for a response to and co-ordination of maritime acci- dents which require search and rescue, counter-pollution and ship casualty operations. It also has responsibility for vessels traffic monitoring. The IRCG has contracts for five helicopters, which are provided at bases at Dublin, Waterford, Shannon and Sligo. The main IRCG activi- ties aviation activities include search and rescue to people, the service of paramedical assistance to persons in remote or difficult access situations and the transfer of persons for urgent medical attention within the island of Ireland to and from the UK mainland. Currently the European aviation safety regulations do not apply to aircraft and personnel in coast guard aviation activities. IRCG aviation activities are regulated at national level by the Irish Aviation Authority in the form of an air operator’s certificate and the national search and rescue approval. The air operator’s certificate allows an operator to perform specific operations of commercial air transport and the national search and rescue approval provides for remedia- tion exemptions that are necessary to operate outside the requirements used to conduct com- mercial air transport without which some of the search and rescue operations would not be pos- sible.