Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no reluctance at all. We have been a fully-fledged partner in providing the service, which everybody accepts has been a great success. However, it is a pilot project which we will keep in place until a permanent structure and implementation plan has been agreed. If such a plan involves a request for Defence Forces participation, we will consider it, and I suspect we will do so favourably. The Defence Forces are not a health service. We are part of a pilot project that has worked very well and will look at partnering any future proposals and roll-out plan if we are asked to do so. We should wait and see what the implementation group proposes, how it proposes to fund it and how the structure will work, so we can have an air ambulance service for the west of Ireland that functions well on the back of the very successful pilot project. The Defence Forces are, and will continue to be, very supportive of the project.

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