Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I fully agree with the Deputy. My Department and the Defence Forces have been working in close collaboration with An Garda Síochána, the health service and the Air Corps to ensure contingency arrangements are in place while we resolve this pinch point.

I had a good meeting with the excellent new Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Rossa Mulcahy. I wish him well in his role. My management board in the Department of Defence and I had an excellent meeting with him and the leadership of the Air Corps. There is a list of things that needs to be done, as the Deputy said, arising from the 2021 report, and even beyond that. The big ask of Government was the service commitment scheme, which we implemented this week at Cabinet. We have taken the decision to provide the funding. That is now available. Air Corps management believes it will make a big difference.

There are also a number of other operational recommendations that fall to the leadership of the Defence Forces. They now need to get on with them. This has to be a collaborative effort to put all of the pieces in place to build a sustainable service. I reassure those who watch these debates that there are contingency plans in place, including ones to support An Garda Síochána in its excellent work.

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