Vol. 533 No. 4
29 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Defence the progress made to date regarding the establishment of the Air Corps safety office; the resources available to the office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9008/01]
35 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Defence the progress made to date in the implementation of the recommendations of the report of the air accident investigations unit into the crash of an Air Corps helicopter in Tramore, County Waterford, in July 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9010/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 and 35 together.
The Air Corps flight safety office has been in operation for some months past and will be an intrinsic part of the new Air Corps organisational structure upon its formal implementation. I have approved in principle the proposed new Air Corps organisation and this will be put in place once consultations with the representative associations, which are at an advanced stage, are completed. A full-time flight safety officer of lieutenant-colonel rank and an officer of captain rank have been appointed by the GOC Air Corps in the interim. The flight safety officer reports directly to the GOC Air Corps. A programme of specialist training and courses to equip the flight safety officer for his post has been under way since the end of 2000.
As I have previously stated in the House, following the report of the air accident investigation unit of the Department of Public Enterprise into the accident at Tramore on 2 July 1999, urgent action was taken by the Department of Defence in relation to the implementation of the recommendations. In this regard I put in place arrangements to monitor progress in regard to the implementation of the recommendations. The fifth meeting of the working group charged with overseeing the process was held last Thursday, 22 March, in the Department of Defence involving representatives from my Department, including the Defence Forces and the flight safety officer of the Air Corps, as well a representative from the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources. Progress reports from the various bodies involved were presented and reviewed and a composite progress report is currently being prepared in the Department and will be presented to me shortly. In this regard, I am pleased to say that considerable progress is still being reported by all bodies involved in the implementation of the recommendations. This group will continue to meet on a regular basis in order to ensure the speedy implementation of the safety recommendations set out in the report.
One of the recommendations relates to the commissioning of an independent air operations safety audit of the Air Corps. I am pleased to report that Intercontinental Aviation Safety Consultants was awarded the contract for this audit on 21 February 2001 and that the audit commenced last Wednesday, 21 March 2001. The auditors hope to conclude their work by the end of this week and I expect that their report will be available within a number of weeks. All support necessary is being provided by my Department and the Defence Forces to assist Intercontinental Aviation Safety Consultants to carry out their task.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
