Almost 41 years after the State took delivery of the first search- and-rescue helicopters from France, the Government is formally withdrawing the Air Corps from all helicopter search-and-rescue today.
The last Rescue 110 helicopter crew on duty at the Air Corps medium-range helicopter base in Sligo will finish at midday, and will be relieved by the contract company CHC Helicopters in a week's time.
No ceremony has been planned today by the Department of Defence or the Defence Forces, both of which are keen to play down the move, criticised as "decentralisation in reverse" by the Fine Gael TD for Donegal South West, Mr Dinny McGinley.
Ironically, the Air Corps helicopter squadron was presented with an international award for 41 years of service towards civilian rescue by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in Madrid several weeks ago.
The decision to privatise all of the State's helicopter search-and-rescue services was taken last December by the former defence minister, Mr Michael Smith, after €11 million had been spent by the State on upgrading Air Corps crews to medium-range helicopter rescue and leasing a medium-range Sikorsky S-61.
The lease arrangement was a substitute for purchasing new medium-lift aircraft for the helicopter wing following cancellation of the contract for same in a political and legal row. The medium-lift helicopters had been due to replace the short-range Dauphin fleet as part of a review prompted by the loss of four crew in the Dauphin helicopter crash at Tramore, Co Waterford, in 1999.
Twelve pilots and crew who had moved to the new base in Sligo have been directly affected by the decision to quit, which Mr Smith attributed to a "variety of problems". These included an incidence of "blue flu" at the north-west base last October in a row over pay and conditions among winching crews.
Most of the winching staff were transferred back to Dublin in an attempt by the military to quell the unrest and the base was put on 12-hour cover. However, the pilots had hoped to return to 24-hour cover by this autumn once replacement winching crews had been trained up.
The decision to proceed was criticised by Mr McGinley, who told the Dáil that "rarely, if ever, have such brave and loyal servants been so brutally betrayed".
The Sikorsky S-61 helicopter leased for the Air Corps in Sligo was returned several weeks ago and a Dauphin, which has been on restricted duty at the base, will leave at midday with the remaining crew.
Several Air Corps pilots who had moved to Sligo applied for secondment to CHC Helicopters, but the pilots' union within the company is understood to have vetoed such a move. CHC Helicopters would make no comment, beyond stating that it had employed Air Corps pilots in the past.
CHC, formerly Bond Helicopters, runs three search-and-rescue bases for the Irish Coast Guard at Dublin, Shannon and Waterford.
It will be ready for 12-hour search-and-rescue cover at its new fourth base next Monday and will upgrade to 24-hour cover in some weeks, according to the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.