Because it was too difficult to find a fair price on a secondhand plane, the government decided against purchasing a used executive jet to transport the president, Taoiseach, and ministers across the world, reports Breaking News.
Officials argued in a business case for the €53 million Dassault Falcon 6X plane that the public would save money by using it for emergency evacuations and as an air ambulance on occasion.
It claimed that by eliminating the need for ministers and officials to stand in queue for commercial flights, the new plane would also save €500,000, reports Breaking News.
The “enhanced time period available for work on a private flight relative to [a regular journey]” would be used to recover an additional €17.8 million.
According to the report, one of the largest savings would be from avoiding the need to rent private aircraft, which the Department of Defence estimated might cost up to €41 million in the upcoming years.
The advantages of purchasing a brand-new executive aircraft, according to the business case, would total €113 million, which is more than double the actual purchase price, reports Breaking News.
The government’s current Learjet was described as being in “deteriorated condition” in the paper that was written before to the acquisition.
It said: “Owing to serviceability issues, the Learjet is no longer capable of providing [a ministerial transport service], further underlining the urgency of the requirement for a replacement aircraft,” reports Breaking News.
According to the business case, a dependable aircraft would be crucial, particularly during Ireland’s EU Presidency in the second half of 2026.
The document said: “Connectivity via scheduled commercial flights to and from Ireland has improved overall … nonetheless, commercial flight options are by nature limited and subject to seasonal influences or availability,” reports Breaking News.
It offered several choices, such as purchasing a brand-new “mid-size” or “super mid-size” aircraft or purchasing a used one of either kind.
Leasing a plane on a continuous basis was also suggested, but buying a brand-new “mid-size” aircraft was ultimately decided upon, reports Breaking News.
However, it did state that looking at a used plane was “the cheapest and most economical option.”
It said: “Owing to serviceability issues, the Learjet is no longer capable of providing [a ministerial transport service], further underlining the urgency of the requirement for a replacement aircraft,” reports Breaking News.
The business case, however, claims that attempts to locate anything appropriate that was under five years old were unsuccessful.
It said: “As aircraft are typically purchased new and not disposed of for a number of years it was held to be unusual for an aircraft less than three to five years old to be available on the market unless it was part of a distressed asset sale,” reports Breaking News.
According to a different research done for the department, demand was significantly exceeding supply, indicating that the second-hand market was in a downturn.
One of the main issues, it was stated, would be when a secondhand plane was offered for sale.
“These market conditions were and are viewed to create a challenge for any government, constrained by the legal and regulatory environment of public procurement rules,” the business case explained, reports Breaking News.
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