The future organisation and equipping of the Defence Forces, having regard to their new roles, will be determined within the parameters of the White Paper on Defence which was recently approved by Government and the investment programme announced in conjunction with that paper.
As indicated in the White Paper, the revised roles were proposed in response to a detailed assessment of the defence and security environment which specifically pertains to Ireland. There is no basis for a meaningful comparison in the foregoing respects between the Defence Forces and the armed forces of other European Union member states.
The Air Corps has traditionally discharged a mix of functions based on the need to supply a range of different services such as search and rescue, fishery protection and ministerial air transport. The generally favourable security climate resulted in the need for a very limited military air capability. In considering the White Paper on Defence, the Government decided that the current broad profile of Air Corps roles will be maintained. The future development of the Air Corps will be determined within the following policy parameters: maintenance/generation of a 24 hour general helicopter capability for a variety of military and non-military tasks, including Garda support; the provision of search and rescue capabilities on the basis of agreed arrangements with the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources; the provision of a ministerial air transport service; the provision of fishery protection patrol services to standards agreed with the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources; the provision of an air ambulance service on the basis of agreed arrangements with the Department of Health and Children; and other transport services of a military or non-military kind and provision of an appropriate capability to meet training requirements.
Any aspirations to broaden the range of available air based capabilities of the Air Corps, have to be balanced against real world constraints. Given the enormous costs involved, few small countries possess the ability to provide a comprehensive air based defence capability.