The State has agreed to spend €128 million buying four helicopters which cannot lift groups of combat soldiers, TDs and Senators have been told.
Independent Senator Gerard Craughwell told the Oireachtas committee on defence that the H145 helicopters do not have “medium lift” capacity to accommodate groups of combat soldiers on missions in defence of the State.
He said the report of the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces published in 2022, explicitly called for two new medium-lift helicopters that can lift more than four soldiers to add to the State’s total of six.
However, he told TDs and Senators the State had instead signed a contract for four H145 helicopters, which do not have the desired medium lift capacity, at a price which was more than €5 million extra per helicopter than Cyprus paid for its fleet of H145s.
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Craughwell, who has a military background, is a member of the committee.
He said the crisis in medium-lift capacity was highlighted in September 2023 during seizure of the MV Matthew and its cargo of cocaine valued at €157 million, when just one of the State’s six medium-lift helicopters was available for the mission. At the time, that helicopter was based in Athlone, where it was conducting ambulance flights. Craughwell said the fleet had significant maintenance issues, which likely led to the unavailability of craft.
He told TDs and Senators the report on the Defence Forces’ future was clear in its recommendation for two new medium-lift helicopters but instead, he said “for some reason” the Department of Defence had signed a contract for four new H145s.
In response, Fiona Lafferty, a principal officer in the department, said the prices paid by the Republic and Cyprus for the new H145s would depend on the specification of on-board equipment. She compared the process to “buying a BMW” which she said was heavily dependent on the levels of equipment on board. She did not specify the differences, if any, between the Irish and Cypriot orders.
Lafferty also said the new H145s would be tasked with various missions, including pilot training. She said pilots at present were being sent abroad for training. Lafferty added that training and many of the other missions “do not require medium lift capability”.
She said the decision to buy the H145s was “fully aligned with the capability objectives as set out with the commission, given the actual flexibility built in within the implementation process”.
Lafferty told the committee that “availability is the key constraint, not lift capacity”.
“So the aim is to deliver the most effective, sustainable and usable capability for Ireland’s needs and into the future, and particularly the emphasis on the training. So the platform is simply a different route to get there. It delivers more availability and operational output.
“Four aircraft deliver more capacity and practice,” she said. “These are training helicopters … so this is where this prioritisation comes from.”
