Air Accident Investigations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 October 2020

Tuesday, 20 October 2020

Ceisteanna (158)

Catherine Connolly

Ceist:

158. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Transport further to Parliamentary Question No. 74 of 9 September 2020, when he was informed of a disclosure (details supplied); the reason this disclosure was not made before the person’s appointment; if he has replaced the person; the reassurance the he can give to the families of the four air crew who died that this report will be published in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31062/20]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Transport

The Chairperson of the Review Board wrote to me on 22 September 2020 on the matter of disclosure regarding its technical assessor. This issue was not known prior to the appointment of the technical assessor to the Review Board.

Following the recusal of the technical assessor from the Review Board and following legal advice from the Office of the Attorney General, I have established a new Review Board to re-examine certain findings of the draft Final Report of the investigation into the accident involving Rescue 116 at Black Rock, Co Mayo on 14 March 2017. The Board has been established in line with Regulation 16 of Air Navigation (Notification and Investigation of Accidents, Serious Incidents and Incidents) Regulations 2009 and I have appointed Senior Counsel Patrick McCann as the Chairperson and sole member of the Review Board.

Under the provisions of the 2009 Regulations, the Review Board is entirely independent in its work and the timeframe for the Board to carry out the re-examination is a matter for the Chairperson to determine.