Daniel McConnell: Time to end embarrassment and replace government jet

Small-minded thinking has left the Government without a reliable aircraft to get ministers to meetings abroad to represent our country, writes Daniel McConnell 

The seven-seater Learjet has been unavailable for 35% of the year to date. Picture: Óglaigh na hÉireann

A column advocating for the Government to replace a jet airplane may seem a bit off considering the many problems facing the country.

However, that is exactly what I am doing and I will explain why the country should not penny-pinch on it.

Many people could, with some legitimacy, argue that there are issues such as fixing the health service and addressing the housing crisis, to name but a few, that are of greater priority.

In previous decades, use of the Government jet by taoisigh and ministers became a symbol of political largesse — a luxury the country could ill-afford at various times of poverty or crisis.

However, as an island nation and in a post-Brexit and post-pandemic world, a key part of the job of being the leader of Ireland is representing our country abroad.

It needs to be done professionally, efficiently, and safely.

Time wasting

Due to deep-rooted fears of a public relations backlash, consecutive governments have shirked the topic — even though it has led to simply farcical examples of time wasting by our leaders when better options are available.

The news this week that the Government is exploring options to replace its clapped-out jet shows that at last a bit of common sense is kicking in

It is simply embarrassing at this stage.

In response to a query from the Irish Examiner, the Government press secretary said that options were being explored to buy or lease a new jet to allow the Taoiseach and ministers to attend important international events.

This is part of a wider review of the Defence Forces but comes amid “mounting issues” with the current jet.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who was 'stranded' in Brussels two months ago. In recent times, the government jet have been plagued by technical problems. Picture: Damien Storan/PA

The seven-seater Learjet has reduced availability and its lack of reliability has continued this year. It has been unavailable for 35% of the year to date, it has emerged.

Two months ago, our Taoiseach was left “stranded” in Brussels because of reliability issues with the jet, which is “nearing the end of its natural working life”.

The Irish Examiner reported recently that the Government had to lease a luxury executive jet to bring the Taoiseach to a series of key meetings in Paris and London, despite having its €8m Learjet 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.

In recent times, the government jet has been plagued by technical problems and was unavailable on 60% of days in January, with further service issues encountered in February and March.

It is understood concerns were raised over whether it could be relied on to get Mr Martin to a series of crucial meetings over recent days in Paris and to London over the St Patrick’s Day period.

Mid-air fault

Last year, the jet developed a technical fault in mid-air on a flight bringing Simon Coveney, the foreign affairs minister, to Turkey.

Mr Coveney and a delegation had been travelling to Turkey on an official visit, with a scheduled refuelling stop-off en route in Zagreb, Croatia.

The Learjet took off as planned on the second leg of its flight from Franjo Tudman Airport but was forced to land back at the same airport less than an hour later.

Simon Coveney: The foreign affairs minister was on the government jet when it developed a fault in mid air. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

It is believed a technical issue relating to a part overheating caused the aircraft to turn back but the Department of Defence declined to comment on the exact reasons, citing “operational and security reasons”.For a long time, the government had not one but two jets at is disposal.

In early 2015, because of equally stupid penny pinching, the top brass in the Department of Defence decided not keep up the maintenance on the larger-range Gulfstream jet, which held 14 people and had been in service since 1992. They then decided to sell it off for €418,000 with another €53,000 received for related spare parts.

The killer was that the former government jet sold to a US firm was valued at $5m (or €4.7m) less than a year later in the US

Examining the disposal of the Gulfstream, the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General slammed the department for not formally appraising the economic case for keeping up the increased maintenance on the jet and stated that officials did not appraise the costs of returning the jet to a serviceable state.I am not here to suggest that Ireland needs an Air Force One like the US president but such small-minded thinking has left us in a position where our Taoiseach is being stranded and ministers are forced to bring packed lunches as they queue for Ryanair flights to key meetings. 

Worse still, our lack of a long-range jet was a major issue in not being able to evacuate Irish citizens out of Kabul after the city fell to the Taliban

Other problems have emerged when seeking to securely remove Irish citizens from troubled hotspots because of the lack of a working government jet.

As we saw in Kabul, our inadequacies meant we had to once again rely on the kindness of strangers and some of our allies, including the UK, to come to our aid.

Like I said, it is embarrassing. Last year it emerged that the British government could spend up to £75m (€87m) over five years on the exclusive charter of A321 aircraft, painted in a UK livery, to transport senior government figures. A spokesman for the cabinet office clarified that £75m is the maximum total possible cost over five years.

The Dutch royal family and government also have acquired a Boeing 737 for their travel needs and this was the plane in which Mark Rutte, the prime minister, flew into Dublin two weeks ago.

The Czech air force operates two Airbus A319CJs, a Bombardier Challenger 600, two Yakovlev Yak-40 aircraft, and Mil Mi-8 helicopters for transporting the president, prime minister, and members of government and parliament of the Czech Republic. However, away from the image of the jet being used for fat-cat ministers going on their jollies, the jet is often used to move patients including children to life-saving surgeries in the UK and elsewhere.

Also, in the aftermath of Brexit and with strategic allies internationally in short supply, a jet is needed to travel to other EU capitals and to fight Ireland’s corner.

I want our leaders ready for battle and not worried if the after-effects of a stag party are going to end up on their laps from the chaps next to them.

We are no longer in a period of austerity.

We are a proud, modern country but in need of finding our place in a new world order

We have two proud Irish airlines from whom we could easily lease a plane and embellish it with our national colours if needs be.

Or we could make a strategic investment and buy an airplane for the long-term well-being of our country.

I would hope the review that is under way is concluded quickly and the right decision is made.

The time of embarrassing ourselves with this farce is over.