John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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217. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the reason the Air Corps could not provide top cover for the Coast Guard in north County Mayo on 15 March 2017 but was able to provide two helicopters covering a large cash in transit on the M50 towards the mint in Sandyford two days later. [14628/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will appreciate that the operational details in relation to any aspect of cash movement missions cannot be disclosed for security reasons. However, in general terms, specific requests for Air Corps involvement in operations results in differing responses depending on the type of operation, the availability of aircraft, the availability of aircrew, weather conditions etc.

On the night of the tragic incident, it was not possible to undertake the Coast Guard request for the Air Corps to provide ‘Top Cover’ because the Air Corps is not providing fixed wing aircraft for routine operations, on an ongoing basis, outside normal hours due to the loss of experienced personnel.