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THE GOVERNMENT JET will be grounded for almost a month as it must fly to a factory abroad for a scheduled maintenance check-up, The Journal has learned.

The Dassault Falcon 6X was delivered in mid-December last year and has carried out a number of ministerial flights to Europe and other locations since then.

Some seven months after its delivery, sources have said it is now in need of a check-up by engineers which must be carried out in another country as Ireland does not have the capability to do it here.

It is understood that the check-up has been scheduled for August as the Oireachtas is on its summer break and there is less need for ministerial transport.

As revealed this week by The Journal, a piece of standard equipment known as the FalconEye – used to help land the plane in fog or other inclement conditions – was not included in the plane.

It is understood that this was a choice by officials as the sensors are made by an Israeli company. The area on the nose where the FalconEye sensors should be has been covered over by a panel.

Sources have said that the aircraft may struggle to land in difficult visibility conditions at airports that do not have sophisticated landing systems.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin defended the government jet yesterday, when he was asked by journalists about the absence of the navigational system while visiting Belfast.

He said the jet “has been very effective” since the government got it, adding that it “took a long while to procure”.

The jet gives the State “strategic reach” when citizens are in difficulty and need to be evacuated, as well as facilitating the government to fly to meetings, including as far afield as the US, the Taoiseach added.

“There are no issues with it at all, as far as we’re concerned,” he insisted.

The scheduled maintenance of the jet does not have anything to do with the omission of the FalconEye system and is a routine check.

General day-to-day maintenance on the aircraft can be completed at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel in Dublin. More advanced maintenance cannot be done at home however, as the Irish Air Corps lacks the expertise and equipment to perform the more detailed tasks.

It is anticipated that the government jet may be out of action until September while it is abroad. There are a number of Dassault maintenance hubs in Switzerland and Britain. The aircraft had also been at factories in the US and France before its delivery.

The Department of An Taoiseach did not respond to a request for a comment. The Department of Defence referred a request to the Defence Forces.

The military said in a statement: “Óglaigh na hÉireann does not comment on the disposition of our Air Corps Fleet for reasons of Operational Security (OPSEC).”

With reporting from PA.

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