Defence Forces spent thousands on flights, hotels due to government jet issues
Ken Foxe
The Defence Forces have been forced to spend thousands of euros on flights and hotels because the government jet has broken down so often and Air Corps personnel were needed to keep an eye on repair and maintenance bills.
The military made multiple formal requests to the Department of Defence seeking permission for technical staff to fly to England where the creaking Learjet has undergone significant work over the past couple of years.
The Defence Forces declined to say how much had been spent in total on airfares and accommodation saying the information was “restricted” but some individual trips cost up to €2,600 per person, according to department records.
Copies of submissions, business cases, and travel request forms sent to Minister for Defence Michéal Martin detail how some of the trips involved up to 10 staff having to travel to the U.K.
In one submission from February, an official said 10 technicians would need to travel to help with “ongoing oversight” of scheduled maintenance for the government’s ailing €8 million Learjet and another utility transport Defender aircraft.
It said: “The purpose of attendance on site is to ensure cost control and address any technical issues arising which require quick decision making to ensure the maintenance is completed in the scheduled timeslot.”
Foreign travel request forms
Copies of foreign travel request forms detail how one trip cost €2,600, made up of €400 in air travel costs and €2,200 for accommodation and subsistence for a visiting technician.
The request form said the nature of the maintenance for the Learjet as well as unforeseen expenditure meant it was critical to have somebody on site to monitor what was happening.
The form: “The technical representative must be present to authorise any additional work carried out and this oversight provides the basis for final invoice negotiations.”
Another business case from January said the Defence Forces would need to have two technical representatives on site at Biggin Hill Airport near London.
It added: “The financial cost will involve the daily subsistence rate for London for two personnel per day, accommodation for two personnel per day.”
One submission from March said that delays in obtaining parts and completion of works on the government jet meant that a technician would have to fly over and back to England for “a number of further weeks”.
“To ensure the return of the Learjet and Defender to operational capability in the shortest time period, I would recommend approval in this instance,” wrote a civil servant at the Department of Defence.
Mission approval
Yet another mission was approved in May for final completion of maintenance and checks on the government jet with six personnel travelling, but able to fly back on the Learjet itself.
The jet has been dogged by reliability issues in recent years with the Department of the Taoiseach having to hire charter aircraft on multiple occasions for overseas trip.
Asked how much had been spent on travel associated with maintenance of the government jet over the past two years, the Defence Forces declined to provide any figures saying the data was “restricted”.
A statement: “If the information [required] cannot be gleaned from the documents provided from [this] FOI request, a new FOI request should be submitted through the Defence Forces or Department of Defence.”
