Snippets from the National Aviation Policy for Ireland Draft

·         Ireland‘s aviation sector is a major contributor to our economy. It is essential for our tourism industry, for our trading relationships and for connecting Ireland with the rest of the world. It contributes €4.1bn directly to our GDP comprising €1.9bn directly from aviation, €1.3bn through the supply chain and €0.9bn from associated spending by people employed in aviation. It supports 26,000 jobs directly and a further 16,000 in the supply chain. Ireland‘s tourism industry, which is hugely dependent on aviation, accounts for a further €5.3bn contribution to GDP and 180,000 jobs.

The draft national aviation policy aims to support the growth and continued development of aviation in Ireland. The principal goals of the policy are:

·         To enhance Ireland‘s connectivity by ensuring safe, secure and competitive access

responsive to the needs of business, tourism and consumers; and to foster the growth of aviation enterprise in Ireland to support job creation and position.

·         Ireland as a recognised global leader in aviation.

·         Safety, and public confidence in the safety of air travel underpin all other objectives in this sector.

·         Maintaining the highest standards of safety in Irish aviation continues to be a priority objective of Irish aviation policy. In 2011, Ireland was ranked amongst the best in the world for civil aviation safety oversight, following an intensive international audit by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). In July 2013, the Eurocontrol Performance Review Body (PRB) published its Annual Monitoring Report on safety which ranked Ireland first out of 29 European states for the measure of Effectiveness of Safety Management (EoSM) - a key metric for the quality of safety regulatory oversight. A fundamental requirement of any aviation safety oversight system is the obligation to report occurrences that may affect safety. In that regard, Ireland has a very good and effective Mandatory Occurrence Reporting System (MORs), established in accordance with the requirements of EU law and ICAO requirements, that is monitored on an on-going basis by both the IAA and the AAIU.

·         It is the Government‘s intention that Ireland‘s safety record in aviation is maintained and defended and that it participates actively in the development of the regulatory framework at an international level.

·         Ireland has an excellent aviation safety record. Safety shall remain the number one priority. The primary responsibility for safety rests with the operator; the State‘s obligation is to ensure compliance.