Varadkar: New Government jet should be capable of long-range flight 

Taoiseach forced to rent private jet for his two-day visit to the Balkans as current Learjet 'no longer reliable'

'The Learjet, which is our current jet, doesn’t get that far, can’t get to America, can’t get to Lebanon. If it had been in use today, I would have had to refuel on the way,' Mr Varadkar said, Picture: Billy Higgins

A new Government jet should be capable of long-range flight and to act as an air ambulance and evacuation method for Irish citizens abroad, the Taoiseach has said.

Leo Varadkar is on a two-day visit to the western Balkans but the unreliability and lack of range of the current Learjet has necessitated the renting of a private jet to bring him, along with some of his delegation, to Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

Rental of a Falcon 2000XLS, similar to that being used by the Taoiseach, can range from €5,000 to €7,000 an hour, according to some rental websites. Mr Varadkar said on Thursday he did not know the cost off-hand, but said it would "not be cheap, as you can imagine".

The Government has gone out to tender for a new €45m jet to replace the beleaguered Learjet, which broke down in November, leaving Mr Varadkar stranded in Paris. That incident saw the Government forced to rent a €7,000-an-hour jet to get Tánaiste Micheál Martin to and from Israel and Egypt.

Mr Varadkar is visiting Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia on his trip, but said such a trip would not be possible on commercial airlines. He said the Learjet was still in use but "mainly for air ambulance".

"It’s unfortunately no longer reliable so can only be used on a very limited basis and for the past number of months, maybe the past year, we’ve been using private hire and that’s been necessary.

It’s just not possible to visit three countries in two days using commercial aircraft.

“But the intention is that it would not be a Government jet, solely for the purpose of transporting ministers to important meetings. That’s only part of the reason why a country needs to have air transport. It will also be used for ambulance transfer, it will also be used for citizen evacuation because sometimes we need to evacuate citizens from other parts of the world.

“It will also be used to help our Defence Forces to get to and from places like Lebanon.

“The Learjet, which is our current jet, doesn’t get that far, can’t get to America, can’t get to Lebanon. If it had been in use today, I would have had to refuel on the way."

On his visit, Mr Varadkar met with Kosovan prime minister Albin Kurti to discuss Kosovo's potential EU membership. The country is not yet a candidate due to a number of reasons including ongoing tensions with neighbouring Serbia, with some municipalities in Kosovo retaining ethnic-Serbian majorities. 

Mr Varadkar said it was important an association of Serbian municipalities be established, but said this could not constitute a "micro-state".