Senator Gerard Craughwell- speech from 4 Nov 2021

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 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 Seanad 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 is happening on the ground. And unless we listen to them and listen carefully to what they are saying, we cannot allow legislation to go ahead. It is flawed as far as I am concerned and I will do everything in my power to obstruct it if we are 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. But 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 am 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 I 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, I never had since I joined this House. But the bottom line on it is, 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 someone. He was quick enough to speak in the absence of the Taunasht, that's all he was. So I will leave it at that, I will not argue any more with you Leska.