Senior Defence Forces figures are concerned that the offer of a £10,000 pay rise to pilots may not stem the flow of Air Corps officers leaving for jobs in the private sector. The Government has made it clear that it will not stop pilots from leaving and that the pay rise, announced yesterday by the Minister for Defence, Mr Andrews, is an attempt to persuade more to stay.
The pay offer, the largest ever offered to a single sector of the Defence Forces, is aimed at about 30 pilots who fly twin-engined aircraft, the Dauphin search and rescue helicopters and the Government jet.
Some 16 pilots applied for early retirement this year and at least eight have already left. Last year, nine pilots left the Air Corps.
If the Government offer does not reduce the numbers seeking to leave for the private sector, there could be operational problems.
Mr Andrews said there was an unprecedented demand from civil airlines for pilots and he wished to avoid a situation "where the Air Corps becomes, in effect, a training school funded by the taxpayer for commercial airlines".