Austin Deasy
Question:23 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Defence the range and flying time of the helicopters being used by the Irish Air and Sea Rescue Service.
Written Answers. - Rescue Service Resources.
The Air Corps have the following resources dedicated for search and rescue purposes:
—An Alouette III helicopter and crew of three, located at Baldonnel for daylight search and rescue operations. The Alouette has a range of 100 nautical miles and an endurance of 2 hours 30 minutes.
—A Dauphin SA 365F helicopter and crew of four, located at Finner Camp, County Donegal, on 24 hour call for search and rescue. The day-time range of the Dauphin is 150 nautical miles from land, whilst at night-time the range from land is 75 nautical miles. The Dauphin has an endurance of 3 hours 15 minutes.
Additionally, a Dauphin helicopter is regularly embarked onLE Eithne on fishery protection duties. While on the ship the helicopter is also available for search and rescue purposes.
The Irish Marine Emergency Service (IMES) has responsibility for the co-ordination of rescue measures, including the deployment of all air and Naval resources, to assist in search and rescue operations. A contract for the provision of a medium range helicopter rescue service based at Shannon was placed by the Department of the Marine on 13 June 1991. The helicopter is a Sikorsky S61N with a crew of four, a range of 230 nautical miles and an endurance of five hours. The contract which is due to terminate on 31 December 1996 is administered by the Irish Marine Emergency Service.