Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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33. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the action his Department took when the general officer commanding the Air Corps outlined serious concerns regarding the extreme pressure personnel losses had placed on operating units in the Air Corps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23566/17]

Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I want to know what action the Minister of State and the Department of Defence took when the general officer commanding the Air Corps outlined serious concerns regarding the extreme pressure – this is his language – personnel losses had played in operating units in the Air Corps.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I wish to reassure the Deputy that the manpower requirements of the Permanent Defence Force are monitored on an ongoing basis in accordance with the operational requirements of the three services. Personnel are posted on the basis of operational need across the organisation at home and abroad. As there is a significant turnover of personnel in the Defence Forces, targeted recruitment takes place on a regular basis so as to maintain personnel numbers at or near agreed strength levels.

As with other areas of the public service, challenges have arisen in respect of the recruitment and retention of personnel in particular areas of expertise. The Air Corps has experienced retirements of highly experienced personnel and these retirements are outstripping the recruitment and training of replacement personnel. The loss of experienced personnel is driven by a range of factors, including the availability of attractive job opportunities in the wider economy. The loss of experienced personnel, including a shortage of experienced pilots, has impacted on the availability of Air Corps services. There are currently restrictions also on air traffic control, ATC, services in Baldonnel.

Every effort is being made to address the personnel requirements of the Air Corps. Actions are underway to return a full level of air traffic control services to the Air Corps. ATC training is taking place and options to ensure the longer-term sustainability of ATC services in Baldonnel are being identified by an ATC working group. These measures will facilitate a gradual extension of operational hours for air traffic control services in Baldonnel this year as newly qualified personnel develop their expertise, with an anticipated return to a full 24-7 service in early 2018.

Regarding pilot retention, the implementation of a range of proposals, including professional and personal development, working environment, operational deployments, career advancement and terms and conditions designed to enhance retention of serving Air Corps pilots are being advanced by a civil military working group. In addition, the potential to attract back personnel who may have left the service is also being examined.

A range of other measures is also being pursued, including increased numbers of pilot cadets in training. A cadet recruitment campaign is underway. A number of personnel will complete ATC training between May and September and a further ATC course is being inducted. Promotions, including NCO vacancies in the Air Corps, will be filled from the recently launched NCO promotion competition. While these initiatives are underway, realistically it will take some time for a return to previous levels of capability in the Air Corps.

Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The memo dated 30 June from Major General Cotter is damning to say the least. It is almost a year since the memo was presented to the Minister of State and his Department. Over the course of the year, the Minister of State and the Department have been aware of major deficiencies in air traffic control and air ambulance transport. All we have got back to date is the Department saying it is looking at recruiting and promoting new members. It is shocking that we have not seen any marked improvement in the level of service provided and do not have 24/7 cover for top cover missions and air ambulance transfer. Within the memo, four priority missions were identified. Remarkably, air ambulance transfer and top cover were not included in the four. I have no major difficulty with ministerial transport being a service provided by the Air Corps to Government unless it impacts directly on services to citizens which I and every other citizen view as vital, namely air ambulance transfer and top cover for search and rescue missions.

When the Minister of State was made aware of this, what action did he and the Department take immediately? Why are we not seeing results now and why are we not seeing an increase in the level of cover for those services? Why do we continue to have those four priorities in place? Why have air ambulance transfer and top cover not been included in the list of priorities as those missions which can and must be maintained?

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Once I had sight of that memo, I told the Department and Defence Forces personnel within the Air Corps to sit down and look at exactly what services were under pressure. We were told about ATCs and I have people training in air traffic control at this moment in time. We have the highest number of cadet pilots going through the cadetship programme at this moment in time. I have increased that in 2017. We are at capacity in cadet training in the Air Corps and it will be the same in 2018 to ensure we train the full complement of pilots we can provide. I am also looking at direct entry and re-entry. These are issues one cannot fix overnight. One cannot just pick a pilot off the shelf and put him or her flying such and such a plane or helicopter. One cannot pick an air traffic controller off the shelf. These people have to undergo specific training. I am the first to admit we have challenges. However, inter-hospital transfer and top cover are the subject of service-level agreements between the HSE and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport on an availability basis only. That has always been the case within the Air Corps.

Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad the Minister of State touched on that because it was my next point. Does the Minister of State accept that inter-hospital transfer and search and rescue top cover are obligations the State has to its citizens? There should be no question but rather an absolute mandate for the Air Corps to provide these services. The use of the language "as available" is unacceptable and inadequate and it needs to be revised. The service should not be provided as available, but should be a mandatory obligation to citizens. Just as ministerial transport is now considered mandatory as one of the four priorities, air ambulance transfer and top cover should be mandatory.

The Department of Defence must listen when it is warned about difficulties in staffing and not always be reactionary. The Department should be ahead of the curve in identifying potential risks. It should not wait until it becomes a crisis and we lose lives before it reacts. That is what the Department is doing. It is moving from crisis to crisis and reacting all the time. It is never preventing a tragedy. We need to get ahead of the game rather than to be always chasing our tails. I ask the Minister of State directly to ensure that air ambulance hospital transfer and search and rescue top cover are made priorities for the Department of Defence. They should not be provided on an as-available basis but on foot of a mandatory Air Corps obligation to provide those services to our citizens, which is what they deserve.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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This has been a long-standing tradition of service-level agreements.

Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Change it.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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It is a situation which obtained prior to me coming into this office, prior to the time of Deputy Coveney and prior to the time of the previous Minister, Alan Shatter. It goes back to the days when Fianna Fáil was in power. A service-level agreement was put in place between the Department of Transport and the HSE. I stand to be corrected, but I am almost certain that it was a Fianna Fáil Government that put that service-level agreement in place. I am not prepared to enter a permanent agreement with any organisation unless we have the capacity to provide the service involved.

Deputy Chambers may have missed the point that the Air Corps provides an excellent air ambulance service from Athlone which was established by the Government immediately preceding this one in conjunction with the HSE and which is saving lives. I will continue to promote the message that the Air Corps is doing an outstanding job in that regard. Last week, we saw that the Air Corps was able to assist with the forest fires in Sligo and Galway. That is more assistance. We also assist An Garda Síochána in respect of its helicopter operations.