Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

The ministerial air transport service, MATS, provides the Government and the President with an independent, flexible and effective air transport service to assist in meeting national and international obligations. The service is more flexible than commercial air travel in that it is not bound to set routes, timetables or schedules. This flexibility can be very important in a wide variety of situations. For example, where EU meetings end up taking longer than originally expected, it is vital that departure times can be altered as required at short notice. This helps Ministers to fulfil to the greatest extent possible all of their duties at home and abroad.

The service also has the distinct advantage of being able to operate from military air bases with all the flexibility that this brings, namely,. Government jets can fly closer to many intended destinations using military, rather than civil airports, and this can lead to substantial savings in travel time. The service offers a degree of privacy for the conduct of official business during flights which is not available on commercial flights and allows Ministers to carry out their duties with the maximum of efficiency. The availability of the service for special tasks in times of crisis ensures independence of movement on critical occasions.

The ministerial air transport service is primarily provided by the Gulfstream IV and Learjet 45 aircraft, which were specifically acquired for that purpose. The Gulfstream IV was acquired in December 1991 and the Learjet entered service in January 2004 as a replacement for the Beechcraft Super King Air. The Beechcraft continued in use until January 2009 as a back-up aircraft for the MATS, in addition to its primary role as a pilot training aircraft. However, it is no longer available for Ministerial air transport or any other taskings.

Helicopters are used for ministerial air transport in situations where, for operational reasons, fixed wing aircraft may not be available, the point of destination may not be close to an airport and in circumstances where there is a requirement for greater flexibility than can be delivered by fixed wing aircraft. The CASA maritime patrol aircraft is occasionally tasked with MATS flights in exceptional circumstances and where the dedicated MATS aircraft are not available.

See this speech in context