Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for that very useful response. I fully appreciate, like everybody in the Chamber, that there is huge demand on the Taoiseach’s time currently. I also understand that he gets the occasional direct flight from Baldonnel airbase directly to Brussels, which is completely appropriate given his status as Taoiseach. Would he consider arriving an hour before his flight sometime early in the new year so he could visit the helicopter wing in Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, which is only a couple of hundred metres away? He could discuss this matter with the crews on the ground and see for himself the facilities, aircraft and equipment that are available, and get a sense of the tools and talent that are already available within the public service before we choose to outsource it to a private operator.

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