Search
05 Sept 2025
Search
05 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
The Learjet 45, currently operated by the Irish Air Corps on behalf of the Government. Photo credit: Irish Defence Forces
A new Government jet is set to be bought by the Department of Defence before the end of the year to replace the current ailing aircraft.
The new jet, which was put out to tender last year at a cost of €45 million, is due to replace the existing Government Learjet which was purchased in 2004, and has seen repeated breakdowns over recent years.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin confirmed last year that he had signed off on a plan to buy a new jet, saying at the time that there had been “serious issues” with the Learjet and that it was reaching its natural “end of life cycle”.
The Irish Examiner revealed that one such incident saw then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar stranded in Paris, while the Government had to rent a €7,000-an-hour jet to transport Tánaiste Micheál Martin to and from Israel and Egypt.
In tender documents published in late 2023, the Department of Defence announced the competition for a new jet aircraft for the Irish Air Corps “for Ministerial Air Transport and broader utility use”.
It said the new jet must have a basic minimum of two engines, an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), capacity for at least 10 passengers and an unrefueled range of at least 3,500 nautical miles.
It must also have the capability of “being fitted with a Defensive Aid Suite (DAS)”, a military aircraft system designed to protect planes from attack by surface-to-air missiles and guided anti-aircraft artillery.
Since the Learjet came into use, it has been used for short-hop flights, primarily to Brussels for EU meetings.
The Tánaiste recently confirmed that the plane will be bought before the end of the year, as the tender award is set to be allocated in the months ahead.
“The intention is that the acquisition phase will be complete and an award of contract will be made this year,” Micheál Martin said in response to Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy.
Speaking on the purchase last year, Leo Varadkar said it was “very important” that “it’s not seen just as a government jet – it’s about being able to get to the US, being able to get to Lebanon, so we can connect with our military over there, and also evacuate citizens as needed.
“So certainly not just for ministers.”
READ NEXT - Body of 'hero' Irish soldier Robert Deegan recovered from Ukraine frontlines
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
