Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 11 Jun 1996

Vol. 466 No. 6

Written Answers. - Missing Aircraft Inquiry.

Declan Bree

Ceist:

30 Mr. Bree asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress, if any, that has been made by his Department in relation to a person (details supplied) who went missing following the disappearance of the light aircraft in which he was travelling, while on a journey from Djerba, Tunisia, to Malta on 3 December 1995; if any official investigation or commission of inquiry has been carried out by the Maltese or Tunisian authorities; if so, if his Department was represented; the outcome of such investigations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12142/96]

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring)

In my reply on 12 March 1996 to a previous question from the Deputy about this case I informed him that the Maltese authorities had established a commission of inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the aircraft in question, its pilot and five passengers.

Following ruling by the Maltese courts on certain legal objections to the composition of the commission of inquiry estabished by the Maltese Ministry of Transport, the commission began its deliberations on 5 June. While neither I nor my Department are represented at the inquiry, we are carefully monitoring developments with the assistance of the embassy in Rome and the consulate in Malta. We are in regular contact with the wife of the Irish citizen who was one of the passengers on the missing aircraft and have assured her of our readiness to assist her in any practical way we can. A Maltese lawyer is representing her at sessions of the Commission of Inquiry.