Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 26 Nov 2003

Vol. 575 No. 4

Written Answers. - Aviation Safety.

Mary Wallace

Ceist:

131 Ms M. Wallace asked the Minister for Transport his views on whether the avoidance of cumulative fatigue is critical for aviation safety and whether in order to prevent airline accidents due to fatigued pilots at the controls of aircraft, flight and duty time limits are not only essential but the limits established must be transparently seen to have been derived from a scientific and medical basis; if, under the current Simpson proposals, a pilot could start work at 9 a.m. and work for 14 hours; if this would bring a pilot into a region of moderate to severe fatigue; if severe fatigue sets in after nine and a half hours on duty; and if his attention has been drawn to the importance of this matter to both pilots and the travelling public. [28507/03]

Mary Wallace

Ceist:

132 Ms M. Wallace asked the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the facts that under the Simpson proposals a person could commence duty at 7 a.m. and finish at 3 a.m. the following day; such a period approaching 22 hours wakefulness, allowing for the time taken to get from home to work, could place a person in a state of reduced performance which could prevent them from safely driving a car, let alone flying a 400 passenger aircraft; if he has received assurances from the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association that, irrespective of the outcome of an independent scientific validation of the Simpson proposals, it will support them; and if so, if he intends to follow this route. [28508/03]

Mary Wallace

Ceist:

133 Ms M. Wallace asked the Minister for Transport the study which his Department will make of the views of his colleagues from other European Union states, particularly those whose FTL limits are based on extensive use of scientific and medical data in the Simpson proposals; if the sub part Q limits will not be implemented prior to the issuance of the FTL policy currently being formed by the International Civil Aviation Authority, the United Nations body responsible for aviation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28509/03]

Mary Wallace

Ceist:

134 Ms M. Wallace asked the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the views of the European Cockpit Association with regard to sub part Q Simpson proposal dealing with flight and duty limitations adopted by the European Parliament on 3 September 2002; his Department's views on whether flight and duty limitations should be decided by a political compromise or defined by scientific and medical information on cumulative fatigue, human sleep patterns and circadian physiology; his Department's officials' views on the criticisms by leading scientists of the sub part Q proposals voiced at the ETCS and BCASS workshop on reducing cumulative fatigue held on 19 February 2003; and if his Department's attention has been drawn to the fact that a number of the national state FTL limits used to draw up the sub part Q limits are not based on scientific data unlike the CAP371 limitations currently in use in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28510/03]

Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Dr. McDaid)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 131 to 134, inclusive, together.

I am aware of the concerns of the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association, the European Cockpit Association and the European Committee for Aircrew Scheduling and Safety, ECASS. However, as I have stated in replies to previous questions on this subject, the day-to-day oversight of aviation safety falls within the responsibility of the Irish Aviation Authority. The IAA has not yet completed its examination of the European Parliament report on this issue. When making a policy decision on a matter of aviation safety I am guided by the advice received from experts in the IAA.

As with all dossiers discussed at a European level, my Department will take into account the views and suggestions made by all other member states. In so far as this proposal may lead to legislative changes, I assure the Deputy that I always give the highest priority to safety matters.

Mary Wallace

Ceist:

135 Ms M. Wallace asked the Minister for Transport the medical and scientific assessment which is made of the flight and duty limitations schemes submitted by the operators of Irish aircraft prior to their approval by the Irish Aviation Authority; and the person by whom the assessment is made. [28511/03]

Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Dr. McDaid)

The issues raised by the Deputy are the responsibility of the Irish Aviation Authority and are not a matter in which my Department has a role.