The Irish Independent
Tom Brady
04-October-2003
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A SUDDEN outbreak of illness among crew members is threatening the future of the Air Corps search and rescue mission in the north-west of the country.
The Air Corps is responsible for providing the service, based in Sligo, but its operations are currently severely restricted because of sick leave and there are fears that the service will be handed over to another organisation.
Defence Minister Michael Smith admitted last night that, due to what he called "an unusually high incidence of sickness" among aircrew, the Air Corps was not in a position to provide a full search and rescue service to the north-west over the weekend.
A shortage of winch operators has meant that the Air Corps cannot take part in rescue missions, though it is still available to handle searches, air ambulance duties, island relief, and disaster relief.
A substantial pay claim for Air Corps winch crews had been submitted by the representative association, PDFORRA, and led to an offer being made by the Department of Defence.
But last month the claim was withdrawn from the conciliation and arbitration scheme.
According to defence sources, this action was taken without explanation or an indication of whether the offer was being accepted or rejected.
The minister said last night: "By taking this surprising action PDFORRA has regrettably precluded my department from progressing this matter."
Since then, the operations at Sligo have been hit by the outbreak of illness among crew and the Irish Coast Guard, controlled by the Department of Communications, Marine, and Natural Resources, has been advised of the position.
Fine Gael defence spokesman, Dinny McGinley, warned yesterday that unless immediate action was taken the entire north-west coast from Malin Head to Mayo would be left unprotected.
He called on the minister and his department to immediately resume serious negotiations to defuse a rapidly deteriorating situation and said the pay dispute was leading to a crisis.
However, Mr Smith accused Mr McGinley of being misinformed and said he was surprised that such an inaccurate statement would be issued without first establishing the facts.
Tom Brady
04-October-2003
****************************
A SUDDEN outbreak of illness among crew members is threatening the future of the Air Corps search and rescue mission in the north-west of the country.
The Air Corps is responsible for providing the service, based in Sligo, but its operations are currently severely restricted because of sick leave and there are fears that the service will be handed over to another organisation.
Defence Minister Michael Smith admitted last night that, due to what he called "an unusually high incidence of sickness" among aircrew, the Air Corps was not in a position to provide a full search and rescue service to the north-west over the weekend.
A shortage of winch operators has meant that the Air Corps cannot take part in rescue missions, though it is still available to handle searches, air ambulance duties, island relief, and disaster relief.
A substantial pay claim for Air Corps winch crews had been submitted by the representative association, PDFORRA, and led to an offer being made by the Department of Defence.
But last month the claim was withdrawn from the conciliation and arbitration scheme.
According to defence sources, this action was taken without explanation or an indication of whether the offer was being accepted or rejected.
The minister said last night: "By taking this surprising action PDFORRA has regrettably precluded my department from progressing this matter."
Since then, the operations at Sligo have been hit by the outbreak of illness among crew and the Irish Coast Guard, controlled by the Department of Communications, Marine, and Natural Resources, has been advised of the position.
Fine Gael defence spokesman, Dinny McGinley, warned yesterday that unless immediate action was taken the entire north-west coast from Malin Head to Mayo would be left unprotected.
He called on the minister and his department to immediately resume serious negotiations to defuse a rapidly deteriorating situation and said the pay dispute was leading to a crisis.
However, Mr Smith accused Mr McGinley of being misinformed and said he was surprised that such an inaccurate statement would be issued without first establishing the facts.
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