The replacement of the government jet has been officially announced by Tánaiste and Minister for Defense Micheál Martin.
The Learjet 45, purchased in 2004, is “approaching its natural end of life,” according to Mr. Martin, who told the Dáil that he had accepted his officials’ recommendation to purchase a new one.
“Ultimately, the State needs a replacement aircraft that provides a broad utility role, including strategic reach in crisis situations and medical evacuation, as well as ministerial air transport.”
Mr. Martin added that due to the lengthy procurement process, future governments would gain more from the replacement jet than they would from the current one.
Ministers have been left stranded by the Learjet’s numerous failures.
Mr. Martin was responding to a query from Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe, who stated that it was crucial for humanitarian missions and medical evacuations in addition to government purposes.
“We cannot expect members of the Government to be going around in rickshaws and we cannot just magic children who are overseas or Irish people who need to be repatriated home.
“We need a way of getting them home safely and I think this is a sensible decision,” he said.
The Tánaiste claimed that the Government had to depend on other governments when it needed to quickly evacuate Irish citizens from Afghanistan.