Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 28 Mar 2001

Vol. 533 No. 4

Written Answers. - Air Corps Equipment.

Alan Shatter

Question:

31 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Defence the steps which have been taken to date by his Department to obtain a training helicopter for the Air Corps; the tender procedure involved; the name of the company or individual who was contracted to provide the training helicopter; and the position in this regard. [7853/01]

Minister for Defence (Mr. M. Smith)

On 11 May 1999 during an operation in the ClareGalway region, the Garda air support unit helicopter which is piloted by Air Corps personnel inadvertently entered cloud. Contact was lost with the ground target, the mission was aborted and the helicopter proceeded to Shannon Airport.

The incident was the subject of an investigation carried out by the air accident investigation unit of the Department of Public Enterprise. A report was subsequently published and this included a number of recommendations, one of which was that the Air Corps should suspend GASU night operations in rural areas with immediate effect until an effective programme of extra night flying is completed by Air Corps GASU pilots. This recommendation was implemented.

To facilitate an effective programme of training which would not impinge on the ongoing GASU operation, I announced in February 2000 that a Squirrel helicopter was to be acquired for the Air Corps as soon as possible for the purpose of pilot training in connection with the operation of GASU.

Work began in the Department on the preparation of the tender documentation and on 22 May 2000, a request for tender for the supply of one used Squirrel AS 355F2 helicopter to the Department of Defence was issued.

The AS 355F2 helicopter was manufactured by Eurocopter in France between 1988 and 1995. As the Department ideally required a helicopter which would be backed up by the manufacturer from the point of view of warranties, maintenance and support, the tender documentation issued only to Eurocopter through their Irish agent Atron, who are based in Sandyford, Dublin 18. Eurocopter was not able to offer a suitable AS 355F2 helicopter which they could guarantee and support.

Discussions took place with the military authorities and the Air Corps and it was decided to attempt to acquire on the open market a used AS 355N helicopter, a later model of the F2 also manufactured by Eurocopter. The tender documentation was prepared and on 27 September 2000 a request for tender for the supply of one used AS 355N helicopter to the Department of Defence was issued to a total of 15 companies. The closing date for receipt of tenders was 12 October 2000.

The result of the tender competition indicated that there were very few AS 355N helicopters available on the open market. Six responses were received, some of which offered different helicopter types which could not be considered. Essentially, the valid tenders from three companies related to the same, one only, AS 355N helicopter which was available in the Philippines. Having considered the responses and the various factors involved, the option to look further into the possible purchase of this particular helicopter was not taken up by the Department.

All options for the provision of night flying training of Air Corps pilots for the GASU are under active consideration in my Department but the prospect of obtaining a second hand Squirrel helicopter for this work is not good given our experience in the tender competitions and the buoyancy of the market for such helicopters.

The new GASU helicopter, the EC 135, is due to be operational in May-June. In that context, and with two helicopters available, the option of using one of the two GASU helicopters for training purposes, including night flying training, will be discussed between officials from my Department and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I am hopeful of a positive outcome to these discussions which would resolve the issue once and for all and would allow for the GASU helicopters to be available for night flying operations in rural areas.