Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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400. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if the loss of experienced ground crew technicians resulted in helicopters having to be sent to Belgium for inspections; and the dates when this has happened in tabular form. [18866/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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First line maintenance across the fleet is performed within the Air Corps. Heavy maintenance on the two EC135 helicopters is performed within the Air Corps.

Routine heavy maintenance on the Air Corps' six AW139 helicopters has been outsourced since May 2016 due to a loss in recent years of experienced Aircraft Maintenance Technicians. Since May 2016 two AW139 helicopters have undergone inspection/routine heavy maintenance in Belgium which commenced in May and August 2016 respectively.