The Government is to end all Air Corps involvement in search-and-rescue services, putting the money saved towards the purchase of a new fleet of light helicopters.
The search-and-rescue service based in Sligo, the only one currently operated by the Air Corps, has been beset by staffing problems and a dispute over pay, conditions and safety for several months. It will now be transferred to private operation, joining the other units at Dublin, Shannon and Waterford which are operated by the company CHC.
Announcing the decision yesterday, the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, said the new fleet of light utility helicopters would allow the Air Corps "to provide an extended range of services, including, in particular, supporting important military interoperability training programmes".
This includes "interoperability" with the military forces of other countries in operations abroad.
In his statement, Mr Smith said he "acknowledged the efforts of Air Corps management and staff to maintain an operational SAR [search-and-rescue] service in the north-west and, in particular, the dedication and commitment of key personnel in the search-and-rescue service".
However a spokesman for PDFORRA, which represents many of the search and rescue personnel, said last night he was "saddened and disappointed" at the decision. The decision to pull out of the Sligo operation follows months of dispute over pay and safety issues.
The helicopter winching crews at one point had a pay claim but it was withdrawn from arbitration during last summer.
PDFORRA, which represents the crews, maintained that Air Corps staff are serving alongside more highly paid search-and-rescue crews working for CHC.
It says a specialist report drawn up by Air Corps management last year found that the salary for winch operators in CHC/Irish Coast Guard was €48,000 to €58,000 annually, compared to a maximum salary of €37,000 for the Air Corps. A substantial proportion of the winching staff in Sligo have been on sick leave since the summer, and in October the winching staff were redeployed to Air Corps headquarters in Baldonnel.
PDFORRA attributed the level of sick leave being taken to "a hostile and difficult working environment, with harassment and related stress".
He denied there was any "work-to-rule" or withdrawal of services by crews for any reason other than illness and stress.
The Department of Defence said it plans to publish a notice inviting tenders for the supply of the helicopters in the Official Journal of the European Community early in the New Year.
The new aircraft would help the Air Corps provide support to the Army and provide additional support in the areas of surveillance, airlift, inshore rescue, medevac, air ambulance, island relief and hospital transfers, said the Minister.
The Air Corps will now dispose of the current Alouette, Dauphin and Gazelle aircraft.
The PDFORRA spokesman, Mr Gerry Rooney, said last night his organisation was saddened and disappointed that after 40 years the Air Corps will no longer be involved in search-and-rescue.