Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the proposed increase in the size of the Army Ranger Wing. There is no doubt about it. In respect of a catastrophe in Dublin, the Army Ranger Wing is based in the Curragh. In a written reply to me recently, the Minister indicated that we had eight helicopters with the capacity to transfer personnel. How readily available are crew for those eight helicopters and at what notice can they move? How quickly could we get them in the air and moving towards Dublin or whatever location nationally a disaster was occurring? Can the Minister tell the House what is the capacity of those helicopters? Is it 30 or 40 personnel or more?

I understand that a ranger in full kit can occupy the space of two people on board a particular helicopter. Does the Minister have any proposal to acquire additional helicopters in order to deal with the eventuality of such an attack?

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