Gerard Craughwell (Independent)

Last night, we held an unscheduled meeting of the Joint Committee on Defence and National Security to explore the crisis in the Air Corps. When that crisis first emerged, the Taoiseach was asked about what was happening and he said it was a matter for military management and its to solve. Military management is not the Accounting Officer for the defence situation in Ireland.

Leading up to last night's meeting, my research showed me that it was apparent in 2017 that we were heading for a crisis in the Air Corps as regards air traffic controllers, among other specialties across the Defence Forces, including the Naval Service and Army. In 2019, that was further driven home by the pay commission. Chapter 7, paragraph 7 of its report talks about an impending crisis with specialists in the Defence Forces, and air traffic controllers was one group.

Moving on to March 2021, the Secretary General of the Department of Defence wrote to the Secretary General of the Department of Transport to say it could not take on search and rescue because there was an impending problem with air traffic controllers. In December 2021, a special committee reported on the crisis in the Air Corps, specifically in relation to air traffic controllers.

After 2021, the Minister was not informed until the very last moment. Surely, it is the job of the Civil Service to provide Ministers with timely information so they can plan for the future. The Leader was at the meeting last night. We are now in a situation where a service retention commitment scheme is being put in place but not one air traffic controller in the Air Corps has been offered it. They will be gone out the gate and who will be blamed? Military management will. The Department of Defence has questions to answer and they need to be asked straight away.