Vol. 453 No. 3
176 Mr. E. Walsh asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the reason the Irish Aviation Authority increased their flight test fees by 600 per cent from £75.99 to £416; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9214/95]
The Irish Aviation Authority informs me that the regulatory fee levels set out in the recent Air Navigation Fees Order (S.I. No. 74 of 1995), made by the authority, were designed to ensure that the costs incurred by the authority in each of the regulatory functions discharged by the authority are recovered from the companies, organisations and persons who benefit from them. This is in accordance with the Irish Aviation Authority Act, 1993, (No. 29 of 1993), which obliges the authority to conduct its affairs so that its revenues are sufficient to meet its costs.
In the case of the fees for flight tests, the authority informs me that, prior to the recent increase, the fees had not been changed for a number of years, with the result that serious disparities had arisen between the cost of discharging the regulatory service and the fees being charged. It was necessary, therefore, for the authority to increase these fees in order to cover the costs incurred by the authority.
The fees order was laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas on 3 May 1995, in accordance with section 6 of the Act. Under this section, the order shall be annulled if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either House of the Oireachtas, within 21 sitting days, from the date the order was laid.
