Vol. 379 No. 2
asked the Minister for Defence if he intends to place one of the new rescue Dauphin helicopters in the western area of the country; if his attention has been drawn to the urgent need for such a development; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
86.
asked the Minister for Defence if he will arrange to have a permanent base for a Dauphin Air Corps helicopter in the west or north-west at a suitable location in order to effect swift responses to air and sea difficulties; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 25 and 86 together.
Because of the extensive back-up services required to maintain a helicopter on permanent standby, it would not be possible in present circumstances to locate a helicopter for rescue purposes at a place other than Casement Aerodrome.
All I can say arising from the Minister's reply is so much for regionalisation, something which the Government and the Minister are very much to the fore with. I cannot understand how it is not possible, particularly after a number of accidents and incidents on the western seaboard — and I am not talking about Galway but about the whole north western seaboard — that there cannot be a manageable working arrangement whereby a helicopter could be placed at the new airport in Galway city. Surely it would make good sense for a variety of reasons to regionalise the service?
The capital cost of establishing a base in a green field in the west would be in the region of £3 million. It has been pointed out already that this would necessitate further back-up services which would be necessary to have an effective and reliable service there. It is not possible to provide that kind of capital investment for that development at this time.
I am not talking about providing a new airport as such. There is a new up-to-date airport at Carnmore outside Galway city. Admittedly it is a commercial airport but surely an arrangement could be entered into by the military authorities and the commercial interests involved to allow it to be be based there. They have all the facilities that one has to have for aircraft. The problems in the western part of the country were clearly signposted recently due to the lack of that type of helicopter being on the spot. The idea that £3 million would be required to establish a base in a green field is not sensible in any shape or form.
This is tending towards a debate now.
In order to guarantee availability all year round, a single aircraft would not suffice in any area. Three helicopters would have to be assigned to the task to allow for one on routine maintenance and one of the other two helicopters developing a fault or anything like that. It is not a question of basing one helicopter there. One would have to put in a back-up of two other helicopters and it would also mean moving some of the existing Air Corps squadrons, together with supporting technical and administrative personnel, to that location. In addition, hangars and stores would have to be provided in order to guarantee serviceability. The sources for this type of service are not available at this time.
A final question from Deputy Connaughton.
If one can move 200 people from the Department of Defence down to Galway, surely it would be possible to shift a helicopter for the many reasons I have mentioned. Not alone would the western counties be covered but the Minister's own county of Clare could do with that service also. I cannot accept the Minister's reasoning.
That disposes of questions, both ordinary and nominated for priority, for today.
