Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I share the Deputy's perspective of the professionalism of the members of the Air Corps who do a fantastic job and the garda who are engaged in the Garda helicopter service. In April 1996 the then Government approved the establishment of a dedicated Garda air support unit, GASU, as recommended in the report of an interdepartmental group on air support for the Garda Síochána. The service commenced from Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnell in September 1997 and is operated by the Garda Síochána and the Air Corps. The GASU provides a 24-hour, all year immediate response capability for air support to the Garda Síochána. This arrangement is formalised by way of a service level agreement, SLA, between the parties. The latest agreement was signed in April 2011. The GASU fleet comprises three aircraft: a Defender 4000 fixed-wing aircraft and two twin-engine EC 135 helicopters.

The support provided by the Air Corps to the GASU includes provision of hangar facilities and pilots for all three aircraft and the servicing and maintenance of the fixed-wing Defender 4000 aircraft. Since the inception of the service, the GASU aircraft have flown in excess of 30,000 missions within the State. A breakdown of the number of missions and the hours flown for the years 2008 to the end of November 2013 are set out in the table. I am happy to go through it for the Deputy if needs be. He will see that there is continuing usage and engagement with the service in providing air support to the Garda Síochána.

2008 – 5 December 2013 GASU Statistics

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