Official Travel

Tuesday, 5 December 2023

Questions (148)

Matt Carthy

Question:

148. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the number of instances where a Minister has had to make alternative travel arrangements due to an Air Corps plane being unavailable due to mechanical or staffing issues in each of the years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 to date, by year, in tabular form; the cost associated with the alternative arrangements in each instance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53456/23]

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Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Defence

The Ministerial Air Transport Service (MATS) provides the Government and the President with an independent and flexible air transport service to assist in meeting national and international obligations.

MATS is delivered primarily by the use of the Learjet 45 aircraft, which came into operation in 2004. Where it is unavailable, the CASA 235 and/or other Air Corps aircraft may be used. Therefore, in situations where there are no suitable Air Corps aircraft, it has become necessary to avail of an air taxi service.

The Learjet is currently approaching its natural end of life. Based on current serviceability issues, discontinuation of manufacturer support and limited part availability for this type of older aircraft, the Air Corps estimate that the aircraft will require replacement by 2024 at the latest.

My department is proceeding with a tender competition to acquire a new mid-sized jet aircraft for Ministerial Air Transport.

Information in relation to MATS is publicly available on my Department's website, where it is updated on a monthly basis. www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/e8132-routinely-published-information/#ministerial-air-transport-service-mats. It has not been possible to collate the additional information requested by the Deputy in the time allowed. I will write to the Deputy to provide this information as soon as it is available.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51

I refer to your recent Parliamentary Question (Ref No PQ 53456/23 – copy attached for ease of reference) requesting information in relation to “the number of instances whereby a Minister has had to make alternative travel arrangements due to an Air Corps plane being unavailable due to mechanical or staffing issues in each of the years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 to date, by year, in tabular form; the cost associated with the alternative arrangements in each instance”. As indicated in my reply, the information sought was not readily available. However, same has been collated and is now set out in the table below:

Year	Number of passengers	Destination	Cost
2019	n/a	n/a	n/a
2020	n/a	n/a	n/a
2021	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022 10-13 March	Taoiseach plus 8	Baldonnel – Le Bourget – Farnborough - Baldonnel	€29,850
2023 31 May – 05 June	Taoiseach plus 5	Baldonnel – Chisinau - Baldonnel	€72,000
26-27 October	Taoiseach plus 8	Baldonnel – Brussels – Baldonnel	€48,000
14 November	Taoiseach plus 6	Baldonnel- Copenhagen – Baldonnel	€24,700
14-16 November	Tánaiste plus 9	Baldonnel – Cairo – Tel Aviv – Baldonnel	€158,000