Executive jet leased for Taoiseach as Government jet can't be relied upon

Concerns were raised over whether the jet could be relied on to get Taoiseach Micheál Martin to a series of crucial meetings over recent days

The government jet has, in recent times, been plagued by technical problems and was unavailable on 60% of days in January, with further service issues encountered in February and early March. Picture: RollingNews.ie

The government leased a luxury executive jet to bring the Taoiseach to a series of key meetings in Paris and London despite having its €8m Learjet available and on standby at Baldonnel Airport.

The decision to charter the executive jet from Luxaviation was made because of concerns over the reliability of the Learjet, which has been used for ministerial air transport for over a decade.