More than €500,000 paid to private firm for air traffic control service at Air Corps base

The State paid out more than €500,000 to a private contractor in the first three months of the year to provide air traffic control services at the Air Corps base at Casement Aerodrome in Dublin.Flight movements at the Baldonnel base had been restricted for a period last year due to a shortage of qualified military personnel to operate the air traffic control service.Minster for Defence Helen McEntee said that last September her department had entered into a contract with an external provider, ASG Ltd, to provide flight information service officer services at Baldonnel.“The contract put in place, with the agreement of the military authorities, has assisted the Air Corps in restoring operational flight activities on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis from December 2025.READ MORE“The amount paid to the contractor in Quarter 1 this year was €544,795, including VAT,” the Minister told Labour Party finance spokesman Ged Nash in an answer to a parliamentary question last week. The Irish Times reported last year that a significant shortage of trained air traffic controllers at Baldonnel had resulted in a curtailment of flight operations.At one point flying schedules at Baldonnel were restricted to a five-day-a week, daytime-only operation. There were also concerns that flight operations at the Air Corps base might have to cease completely due to the shortage of air traffic controllers. The restrictions had implications for general military aviation as well as for medical, rescue and police operations that operated from the Air Corps base.Last year Tánaiste and then minister for defence Simon Harris announced that a bonus scheme in place for pilots in the Air Corps would be extended to air traffic controllers.[ Ireland’s first long-range military radar systems to be in place next yearOpens in new window ]He said the move formed part of a package of measures put in place after he was informed by military authorities about the likelihood “of challenges in regard to service provision” at Baldonnel.Harris said he had sought and secured Government approval “for the introduction with immediate effect of a service commitment scheme for air traffic control personnel; new entry options to air traffic control service, namely a direct entry option; new promotion opportunities within the service; and outsourcing of aspects of the training provided”.He said his officials in the Department of Defence were also “actively engaged with their Air Corps colleagues in securing additional resources, including from external service providers, to ensure all avenues are being examined”. The Tánaiste said he also intended “to conduct a peer review of how our air traffic control services are provided as compared with how other militaries provide similar services”. “There is a worldwide shortage of air traffic controllers. We have seen pinch points like this before. It is important that we learn from how other militaries are addressing similar challenges,” he said.