Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

It is important I clarify the situation for the benefit of the House. The immediate answer to the Deputy is that no major fault showed up, to the best of my knowledge. However, as the Deputy may be aware, there was an incident relating to the Government jet on its return from Tbilisi last week. While the aircraft was on the runway, one of the warning lights indicated an hydraulic fault. As the aircraft had not taken off, the aircrew immediately telephoned the Gulfstream company in the United States and took advice on how to proceed and what repairs to carry out. They were so advised, isolated the problem and sorted it out. On the journey home another warning light flashed which indicated there was a problem with the wheel brakes. As a result, the Government jet which was carrying the Minister for Foreign Affairs, among others, and was due to land at Cork Airport diverted to Shannon Airport which has longer runways — if there was a problem with the brakes, the flaps could be used to stop the aeroplane. When the aircraft landed at Shannon Airport, it was found, thankfully, that the brakes were in perfect working order. Therefore, it was obviously a question of a malfunctioning light. The Air Corps has been working on the aircraft since at Baldonnel Aerodrome. I understand it needs a new part for the hydraulics and that this is being fitted. The short answer to the Deputy's question is "No". During the major recent overhaul in the United States, nothing showed up.

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