Opposition parties to raise air corps claims in the Dáil

Opposition parties are to raise whistleblowers’ concerns on the management of air corps staff exposure to hazardous chemicals in the Dáil today.

This week, the Irish Examiner revealed that three whistleblowers made protected disclosures to then-Defence Minister Simon Coveney in 2015 in which they alleged that the air corps is failing to adequately train and protect its technicians from the effects of the chemicals they use on a daily basis.

These disclosures came a year before an October 2016 report in which the Health and Safety Authority threatened the Air Corps with prosecution unless it acted on over a dozen recommendations arising from inspections of Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel.