Millions spent on repairs and spare parts for ageing government jet

The government jet has been used for short-hop flights, primarily to Brussels for EU meetings. Picture: Billy Higgins 

Millions of euro has been spent on repairs and spare parts for the ageing government jet which is now worth just over €2m.

Figures released to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly by Tánaiste and minister for defence Simon Harris, show that the plane, originally bought for over €9.8m, had flown 240,000 miles between 2019 and the end of 2023, when it stopped conducting Military Air Transport Service flights. 

It had done 367,000 miles in the five years previously.

Between 2019 and 2023, a total of €2.9m was spent on maintenance and spare parts for the plane, compared to €2.8m in the five years previously, despite the lower levels of usage. 

Between 2006, when the jet was purchased for €9.8m, and 2013, a total of €3.7m was spent on maintenance and spare parts, the figures show, for a total spend of nearly €9.5m. 

Last year, €650,000 was spent on maintenance, while €67,000 was spent on spare parts.

The figures also show that the average cost of operating the plane had risen from €3,780 per hour in 2015 to €4,200 per hour in 2019. 

Figures for 2021 and 2023 are being compiled, the Department of Defence told Mr Farrelly. 

According to one American air charter company, a Learjet 45 operating 200 hours a year should cost around €2,120 per hour to operate.

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Mr Harris said that he was not able to give an exact value of the depreciation of the plane, but that the current value is around €2.6m

Since the Learjet came into use, it has been used for short-hop flights, primarily to Brussels for EU meetings, but the lack of a longer-range alternative has been criticised at times when Irish citizens required evacuation from places like Afghanistan.

In 2023, the Government had to charter a €7,000-per-hour business aircraft to bring the Tánaiste to the Middle East after the Learjet broke down again leaving taoiseach Leo Varadkar “stranded” in Paris.

The Department of Defence has signed a deal for the French-made Falcon 6X with delivery expected in December. 

The plane has the capacity to fly to the west coast of the US and will replace the ageing Learjet.