Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I did not say they could fly all aircraft. In fact, anybody who can fly a Learjet has already come through some of the training which would deal with CASA aircraft and is qualified to fly such aircraft. Once a person is qualified to fly a Learjet, he or she is taken off the roster for CASA aircraft. One of the problems is that fully qualified pilots manage to come off rosters. There are enough pilots within the Air Corps to fly CASA aircraft and provide cover, but they are rostered in a different way or are rostered for different duties.

Separate to that, others who are members of the Air Corps work part-time as pilots on CASA aircraft and other planes, including Learjet. Due to the fact that their qualification is external to the Air Corps it is not recognised by it because they are not officers. There is a particular problem within the air force, common to many other air forces around the world, in that the officer class does not recognise those of a lower grade under its terms. The qualifications personnel may have achieved outside of the Air Corps are not recognised because they have not gone through the cadetship programme.

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