Mr. Rory O'Connor:

Direct entry has been used in the past. Given the shortages we are seeing, as discussed earlier, the question is how direct entry might work, and work out, for us. It does not mean that because there is such a demand for controllers, we will not get people coming in. They may be foreign military personnel who have retired and are, I will not say looking for an easy life, but they are looking for a different focus. They may be people who have come home having previously emigrated.

We must be very careful regarding the qualifications they bring with them. There needs to be an assessment done and possibly training. Across all three services in the military, we train our personnel very well and to a very standard. Unfortunately, we have found in the past that not everyone coming in meets our standard. From my point of view, which is the aviation aspect, safety is paramount.

It is quite a number of years since we used that mechanism. Certainly, we must ensure the right standards are there for Ireland Inc., as they are operating in our security environment. AirNav Ireland is the primary resource for training those personnel. This whole process is not something we can turn on or off. We are looking at a renewed vigour approach. As mentioned earlier, the new establishment in terms of going for the all-officer model will make the role more attractive.