I would like to focus my questions on Ireland’s air-sea rescue capability. It was a service that was provided exclusively by the Irish Air Corps for decades up to the year 2002, when it was handed over and outsourced to a private company. Most members of the public will be familiar with the large red and white helicopters that sometimes fly overhead. What they may not be aware of is that these helicopters are not owned by the Irish Coast Guard, nor are they even owned by the State. They are owned and operated by a foreign private helicopter company which is on a very lucrative contract from the Irish taxpayer. When I say “lucrative”, I am talking about €600 million over a ten-year period, or €5 million a month, if one wants to look at it from that perspective. Not only is the contract very expensive, it is also finite in time. At the end of the ten-year period, Ireland is left with absolutely nothing. The helicopters will be taken away and we will have to go back to scratch to retender the contract again for another ten years.

The reason I am bringing this up today and the reason it is so pertinent is that the process to renegotiate a new ten-year contract from 2023 onwards is shortly to get under way. It is estimated that approximately €1 billion will be used to provide this contract over the next ten years, which is the financial equivalent of half of a national children's hospital, so that is the scale of the project currently taking place.

I raised this matter on budget day in October. I have been very heartened and encouraged by all of the Deputies who have supported what I have said. These are Deputies from all across the political divide, on both sides of the Chamber. It is clear there is now an appetite to re-examine a better, optimum model of delivery which would provide better value for money for the Irish taxpayer but also, crucially, provide a more sustainable and more sovereign service for the country. That is something the country deserves. For example, we do not outsource policing in Dublin city to a private security firm; we resource An Garda Síochána to provide that policing capability on our behalf. Rather than funding a foreign private helicopter company to run a service for a fixed and finite period of time, would it not make more sense to invest that money in the Irish Air Corps to provide a more sustained and sovereign service into the future? At the end of the ten years, Ireland would still own the helicopters and we would not have to retender the contract after ten years.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. There is currently a project under the remit of the Department of Transport to consider development of a new marine search and rescue, SAR, aviation contract for future service provision, as the Deputy has outlined. The Deputy has been fair in saying the provision of search and rescue aviation services in Ireland has, to a great extent, involved a mix of private provision since the 1980s, and has been fully provided on a 24-7 basis by a private entity since 2004, with the Air Corps providing support, including top cover support, to the Coast Guard on an “as available” basis.

As part of this ongoing project, a preliminary appraisal of service provider options ruled out the option of either the Air Corps or the Coast Guard taking full responsibility for SAR aviation services in Ireland at that stage. However, given its historical role in the area, the Government would like to explore further the option of the Air Corps providing some element of the aviation services. I know the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, has asked his officials to engage with the Department of Transport to explore this matter further and that is part of the detailed appraisal of SAR service provider options.

It is important we get this right for everyone. As the Deputy said, there is considerable State funding at play here and the provision of a life-saving service is the ultimate aim of all concerned. The next step in the process will be to bring a detailed business case to Government early next year, with an appraisal of the viable options and a recommendation on the way forward to delivering this service and the procurement strategy to achieve it. The Department of Defence and the Department of Transport are liaising closely on this. Both the Naval Service and the Air Corps currently provide support to the Coast Guard on an “as available” basis and that will continue. It is a valuable role. I will engage with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, and the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, on this issue. There is still time to develop the best option.

I am conscious there has been a need for increased and ongoing investment in the Air Corps and also the retention of personnel. However, there has been significant investment in equipment and personnel. The replacement of the Air Corps Cessna fleet, as provided for in the White Paper, with three larger aircraft, which are equipped for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, has been completed. These aircraft, which cost just over €43 million, are now operational. In March, a fourth PC-12 NG aircraft was purchased to provide very immediate additional fixed-wing capacity to meet the unique situation arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. The White Paper also provides for the replacement of the CASA 235s with larger, more capable aircraft, which would enhance maritime surveillance and provide a greater degree of utility for transport and cargo carrying tasks. A contract for the supply of two C295 maritime patrol aircraft was entered into with Airbus Defence and Space in December 2019. The cost of the contract, including equipment fit-out and ancillary support, was approximately €221 million and the aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2023.

In terms of personnel, a service commitments scheme for pilots was sanctioned by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and implemented in the third quarter of 2019, which has had a stabilising effect on numbers. Other measures, such as a recommissioning scheme for former Air Corps pilots, have also boosted pilot numbers, and a range of initiatives which will see accelerated training through outsourcing is restoring capacity to the Air Corps as quickly as possible.

I thank the Taoiseach for that very useful response. I fully appreciate, like everybody in the Chamber, that there is huge demand on the Taoiseach’s time currently. I also understand that he gets the occasional direct flight from Baldonnel airbase directly to Brussels, which is completely appropriate given his status as Taoiseach. Would he consider arriving an hour before his flight sometime early in the new year so he could visit the helicopter wing in Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, which is only a couple of hundred metres away? He could discuss this matter with the crews on the ground and see for himself the facilities, aircraft and equipment that are available, and get a sense of the tools and talent that are already available within the public service before we choose to outsource it to a private operator.

In these Covid times, it has been very occasional. That is a very good idea. I will certainly avail of that opportunity to visit and see at first hand the helicopters, the equipment and the various facilities that are available in Baldonnel, and I will ask for that to be facilitated. I will take the Deputy up on that suggestion, which is a good idea.