The State faces paying a premium price for a new Government jet following the Cabinet's decision to have it in service before Ireland's EU presidency begins next January, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent
During its meeting yesterday, the Cabinet agreed to buy an aircraft larger than the existing Gulfstream IV, which has been plagued by embarrassing breakdowns.
Ministers also agreed to hold onto the Gulfstream IV until at least mid-2004, and to go ahead with a 2001 decision to replace the Air Corps' existing four-seater Beechcraft turboprop.
However, the decision to buy the larger aircraft within months is likely to weaken the Department of Defence's negotiating hand in talks with aircraft manufacturers.
Deliveries normally take up to 18 months. The aircraft will have to be in the possession of the Air Corps by the early autumn to allow pilots and crew time to train on it.
Last night, a Government spokeswoman said the new aircraft would be larger than the Gulfstream IV, though no decisions had been taken on by how much.
She said talks about the financing of the €50m-plus jet would now be held between the Department of Finance and the newly-created National Development Finance Agency.
The Gulfstream IV was ordered by Mr Charles Haughey before Ireland's EU presidency in 1990, though he had been removed from office before it was delivered.
In all, the State paid €44 million for the Gulfstream IV, which can carry up to 14 people, in phased payments up to 2001.
The proposal to buy a new jet was put to the Cabinet by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, rather than by the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, who is usually responsible for military purchases.
Civil servants will now draw up the specifications required for the new flagship jet, though this will take a considerable number of weeks.
The Government could have three ministerial air transports in service for the first time during the first half of next year.
Mr Ahern missed a meeting in New York in 2000 with the UN secretary general, Mr Kofi Annan, after the Gulfstream IV broke down on the runway of Washington's National Airport.
Most recently, it broke down minutes after Mr Ahern had reviewed an honour guard of the Mexican army as he prepared to return home.
Under EU rules, the tender for a new aircraft must be advertised in the EU Journal for 52 days. "Then the tenders will have to be got back, and the aircraft plants will have to be visited," said a source.
The decisions were condemned by the opposition last night, which said that it displayed a "perverse sense of priorities" in light of current economic difficulties.
It was "an extravagant spending spree at a time of severe economic cutbacks in every area, from health, to education and to infrastructure", said Fine Gael TD Mr Dinny McGinley.