Senator Gerard Craughwell- speech from 4 Nov 2021

Thank you very much. Leader, you very kindly arranged a meeting with the Minister for Transport with respect to the Air Navigation and Transport Bill. That meeting took place the other day and I was somewhat disturbed that we were presented with a fait accompli by the regulator by way of a PowerPoint presentation. I asked at the end of the meeting that the PowerPoint presentation be made available immediately to us in order to that we could discuss it with the people who care about airline safety and flying in general, IALPA. I was told I would be given the PowerPoint presentation before the end of the week along with the undertaking from the regulator. Now that all sounded very plausible but the key point I want to make here today is that IALPA are not at all happy with what was presented to members of the the other day. We cannot go ahead with this legislation while this doubt hangs over the legislation. The pilots and the pilots organisations are the people who know what's happening on the ground and unless we listen to them and listen carefully to what they're saying we cannot allow legislation to go ahead. It is flawed as far as I'm concerned and I will do everything in my power to obstruct it if we're not prepared to sit down and have a proper conversation about this. Now I know this is not your fault Leader. You arranged the meeting and I am grateful to you for that. The meeting was a very slick performance I have to say and at the very end of it there was very little time and no matter how often I asked could I have the PowerPoint presentation I was told no. You will get a letter of undertaking. Simply not good enough. We are talking about the safety of the public as they fly. We already know if we take the peer support group part of the legislation. We already know that one pilot flew a plane into the Alps who was suffering from severe depression. We do not want to see a serious accident and I believe the Irish pilots are genuine in their efforts to make this legislation sound legislation. So I'm asking you now Leader to go back to the Minister and ask the Minister to release the PowerPoint presentation and not to proceed with this legislation until I have had an opportunity to provide a rebuttal. Now before I sit down and beg your indulgence on this Leader, Paddy Cosgrove at the Web Summit made the most outrageous attack on the Taunasht of this country. Now I have no allegiance to any political party and never had since I joined this House. But the bottom line on it is that people like Paddy Cosgrove, we just had Senator Lachlan speaking about bullying. A lot of the bullies moved from the schoolyard into corporate Ireland and beyond. I want a debate on bullying but I certainly want Mr Cosgrove. Thank you Senator Crockwell. You have made the point very well, but we also have to remind you that in his absence we cannot name something. He was quick enough to speak in the absence of the Taunasht. I will leave it at that. I will not argue any more with you Lasko. I say to Senator Crockwell that he raises concerns about the airline safety and navigation bill. I unfortunately was not able to go to that meeting on Tuesday, despite having raised the time constraint with the Minister last week because I was on the order of business here with all of you on Tuesday. So I missed the meeting and so therefore I have not seen the presentation that was promised to us. I will contact the Minister today to say that we do need to see that PowerPoint presentation and to look for the undertaking. I give that commitment to Senator Crockwell and indeed all of the other 11 or 12 senators that were at that meeting the other day. There are very real concerns about the bill and I am in the unfortunate position of having to say that I share those very real concerns. The reason I share them is not political. It is not based on votes in Fingal which apparently gets thrown in my face every 20 minutes. It is based on the fact that we have 1300 pilots who are the people who are crying out for these rules and regulations to protect them. To protect them so that they can protect the thousands of us that get on planes every single day and put the safety of our lives in their hands. I really have to question and wonder why a regulatory office does not want the powers and the controls to make sure that we have the safest airline industry that we could possibly have in Ireland, reflecting a safe industry that we have across Europe. I will follow up for Senator Crockwell and try to get that commitment today.