THE Garda is to get two new aircraft within six months, the Department of Justice said yesterday.
Contracts worth £5.5 million have been signed for a helicopter and a fixed wing aircraft for the Garda's new Air Support Unit.
The helicopter is to be the AS355N made by the French company Eurocopter International, while Pilatus Britten Norman of Britain is to supply a PBN Defender 4000.
The helicopter can be fitted with a Forward Looking InfraRed camera (FLIR) and a searchlight. Depending on its configuration and the amount of equipment carried, the Defender 4000 aircraft can carry up to 10 people.
The aircraft are to be piloted by the Air Corps but and will carry Garda observers.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, said the new unit would provide the Garda with 24 hour air support and would help the force to combat all forms of serious crime.