The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has ruled that the Government is in breach of its obligation to introduce an EU directive governing working times for flight crew on airlines.
The directive, which should have become Irish law in 2003, specifies that flight crews should not work more than 2,000 hours a year.
The Government did not contest the case taken by the European Commission but submitted a draft statutory instrument to the court, which is subject to discussions with the aviation industry in Ireland.