Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 465: To ask the Minister for Defence his views on acknowledging the courage and sacrifice of the Air Corps personnel who died in the Tramore helicopter crash of July 1999 through the reward of appropriate posthumous medals to the crew members who died; if he will confirm that a recommendation for an award of posthumous distinguished service medal was made after the tragedy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17410/06]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 466: To ask the Minister for Defence if it is intended to acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of the Air Corps personnel who died in the Tramore helicopter crash of July 1999 through the reward of appropriate posthumous medals to the crew members who died; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17411/06]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 465 and 466 together.

I would like to take this opportunity to once again acknowledge the supreme sacrifice of the Air Corps personnel who so tragically lost their lives in the Tramore helicopter crash and to extend my renewed sympathy to their families, to their friends and also to their colleagues in the Air Corps. We all recognise and appreciate the nature of the tragic loss occasioned by their deaths.

I also fully understand that the question of acknowledging their service in a tangible lasting manner is of great personal importance to the families concerned. In relation to the specific matter of the award of posthumous Distinguished Service Medals, the position is that Defence Force Regulations A9 provide for the criteria and procedures for awarding Medals and Decorations to personnel of the Defence Forces. These Regulations require that any recommendations for possible awards must be made in accordance with the relevant procedures, and in the case of recommendations for the award of Distinguished Service Medals, such recommendation should be made not later than 4 years from the performance of the act in respect of which the recommendation is made. The military authorities advise that no such recommendation was made in these cases.

Recognition of the devotion to duty and loyal service to the Defence Forces of the personnel who lost their lives has been marked in a very fitting and personal way by their colleagues in the Air Corps, who commissioned and installed a special memorial window in the church at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel dedicated to the memory of the four Air Corps personnel killed in the accident at Tramore on 2 July, 1999. A permanent memorial was also erected by the Air Corps to their memory at Finner Camp in Donegal, where the crew had been previously stationed.

Official recognition of this tragic loss of life was marked by my Department's close involvement with Tramore Town Commissioners and Waterford County Council who erected a memorial in honour of the memory of the four Air Corps personnel. My Department contributed £10,000 towards this memorial and also assisted the Town Commissioners in the organisation of a formal ceremony in Tramore on 4 September, 2000 where the memorial was unveiled by President McAleese. This ceremony was attended by the families and colleagues of those who died along with the then Minister for Defence, Mr. Michael Smith, T. D., the then Chief of Staff Lieutenant General David Stapleton and the then General Officer Commanding the Air Corps Brig General Patrick Cranfield. This memorial and those in Baldonnel and Finner are a fitting public acknowledgement of the crew's devoted service to the State and to the esteem in which their service and sacrifice is held.