Mr. Christopher England:

Both. Where possible, if we can, we will ask the helicopter to lift us up onto the mountain. That has happened and continues to happen. Again, that call is made by the aircrew that is managing the machine. It will know the tolerances of its helicopter.

As for Air Corps red tape, there are existing relationships between the Air Corps and the Coast Guard helicopter. The primary setting is that the Coast Guard helicopter is the primary rescue helicopter for these islands. I say "islands" because the Coast Guard helicopter from Dublin also serves Northern Ireland. Moreover, the other machine comes up from the County Donegal side right through into north County Derry. As backup to that, if one of those machines has a technical fault or is out at sea, for example, there is a secondary standby whereby we can ask for the assistance of the Air Corps. However, the primary use is of the Coast Guard helicopters.

We continue to train with them and ensure that the crews understand us and we understand them. It is useful on many occasions because they have night-flying capabilities where they can transport us up onto the hill in hours of darkness, but as they become busier with their main primary role of military transport, that use is declining.