An information resource for serving & former members of the Irish Army Air Corps suffering illness due to unprotected toxic chemical exposure in the workplace.
Seanad office receives 70 nominations in advance of Wednesday deadline for candidates backed by professional bodies
Former Independent TD Cathal Berry who lost his South Kildare Seat in the general election is to run in the Seanad election as is former Waterford Independent TD Matt Shanahan, both of them from the Regional Independent group in the last Dáil.
Mr Berry, a former Army Ranger and medical doctor who received nominations from Oireachtas members, said “national security is a priority around Europe at the moment … So you need people with a particular expertise to have a mature conversation about it. And that’s what the Seanad is all about.”
The Upper House is seen as a way for former TDs to remain in the Oireachtas to win back their Dáil seat in the following general election.
Read full article by Marie O’Halloran at the Irish Times
My name is Pat Reilly and I served in the Air Corps from August 1991 to October 2013. I now live in Queensland, Australia, having moved here in May 2014 from our home in Walsh Island, Offaly. I was an aircraft maintenance engineer for the first fourteen years in the Air Corps and later became a photographer. I think I may have worked with you at one stage as a photographer.
I am writing to you regarding the toxic chemical scandal that has been destroying lives of former and serving Air Corps personnel but has been continually pushed aside by the Irish Government with a myriad of excuses including now, Covid-19, which they say is stopping legal documents from being signed due to social distancing.
I hope you don’t mind me sharing my story with you as I feel isolated here in Australia other than communicating occasionally with other veterans who are affected and very occasionally with the legal team who are trying their best to cut through the barriers the government are putting up back in Ireland.
While I’m no longer a voter in Ireland I’m still a citizen and I’m wondering can you ask a few questions around the chemical subject in the Dail as it has gone very quite the last year or so. I understand that Covid and the election has taken up a lot of time in the Dail but its this exact situation that I fear will be used to hide the scandal further as it seems to already have somewhat.
I would love to know when Minister Convey is launching his investigation into the subject as he promised and how long it will take. Time is critical in this matter as more and more of us are getting sicker by the day. It’s heartbreaking seeing relatively young men (possibly women also) cut down in their prime. Not being able to work and support their families and suffering debilitating symptoms day after day.
I’ll be honest and tell you there are tears flowing down my face typing this.I moved here to get away from Ireland and the job I loved because I was being bullied by my superiors in the Air Corps for being sick but now I’m unemployed due to my illness and trying to live off my Defence Forces pension and income insurance which may dry up any month now.
I feel worthless and a waster as I always gave 100% in any work I’ve done despite my illness. The only thing that’s keeping me sane and going in some respects is my medicinal Cannabis Oil which I was prescribed here last year after approval by the Australian government.
I’ve even lost the support of my wife who cant take our situation anymore and I fear for our marriage which is my second marriage after my first one broke up partially due to my illness also.
It seems that as soon as I hit my 40’s my body can no longer fight off my symptoms. Without my medication I have severe tremors and shakes and uncontrollable anxiety due to my sympathetic nervous system being damaged by the chemicals. This system also affects things like my bowels and stomach. It’s not a good experience when one soils themselves at work in front of customers.
I also have neuropathy in my legs where I cant feel and I lose control of my legs causing my knees to buckle and me to loose balance. My immune system is also damaged to the point I react to any sort of chemical smell, foods, materials and many other triggers. I cant breath properly and choke often due to damage in my nasal cavities which of course interrupts my sleep. Finally, I have a huge amount of pre-cancerous cells sitting their waiting to ruin me further, my doctor said she’s never seen this in anybody under 75.
All this has really taken its toll and I’m at the point I feel like giving up and I will share with you I was on the end of a rope earlier this year but I managed to talk myself out of it as I don’t want to be another statistic to add to the 78 dead already from untimely deaths in Baldonnel.
I decided there and then I didn’t want the government to win, I want them to apologize for the years of calling me a bluffer, a malingerer, telling ,me it’s all in my head. I also think at this stage we need a support package. I can no longer work no matter how much I tell myself I’d be ok working and I can no longer legally drive due to my medication. It’s literally like Russian roulette. I could work for a week or a day and then I’m too sick and have to go home which is why my current ‘employer’ (Apple) put me on an insurance plan as I became too unreliable despite having citations from the CEO of Apple for interactions with customers who emailed him to praise my work.
I could now be a Sgt Major in the Air Corps or an officer or be retired on a Flt/Sgts pension but this illness put a stop to all that. Instead I’m scraping by on a few hundred dollars and I’m stuck renting as no bank will touch me now and it sounds strange but I can’t even afford to move home to Ireland as logistically it would cost too much even to just give up and go.
I could go on all day explaining my illness and situation its that complex. I try to keep up a happy appearance on social media as some of my family and my 86 year old mother don’t know my situation and I don’t want her to be worried in her last few years.
I hope you don’t mind me writing to you as I needed to get this off my chest to somebody other than my wife and somebody like yourself who’s served and is now in a position to ask why we are being forgotten. The ministers involved keep using litigation as an excuse not to address the scandal as several of us have cases against the Dept but these are being dragged on and on the past six years with delay, deny, die tactics which is apparently the norm.
Thanks for listening Cathal and Sláinte,
Pat Reilly.
Berry’s utterly insensitive response, Pat very obviously is not “keeping well”
Dr Cathal Berry TD’s utteerly insensitive & unsympathetic response two months later disingenuously describing the Air Corps scandal as a legacy issue even though the Air Corps were issued chemical contravention notices as recently as December 2023.
I hope you are keeping well. I am sorry for only getting back to you now.
I do understand that the Air Corps Chemical Abuse scandal is a legacy issue and needs to be addressed properly.
I will certainly raise this soon with the Minister at an appropriate time.
This was the one and only communication Pat had from Cathal Berry and Oireachtas records show that Deputy Berry has NEVER raised this issue in the Dáil chamber.
Perhaps Deputy can put on the record the response from the Minister if he ever bothered to raise it outside the public record.
*****
Dr Berry this is NOT a legacy issue as you pretend and it most certainly is a live issue for those suffering needlessly and dying young.
But we know you don’t care, shame on you.
Read an article from Ken Foxe dated 21st May 2024 on TheStory.ie
“Why has Cathal Berry turned his back on Irish Air Corps whistleblowers?”
Cathal Berry has faced criticism for his stance on Irish Air Corps whistleblowers, particularly regarding his response to their allegations of wrongdoing and poor treatment within the organization.
While Berry has historically been vocal about the need for whistleblower protection and accountability in the military, his handling of specific cases involving the Irish Air Corps has raised eyebrows.
The controversy centers on his position as a public representative and his past ties to the Defence Forces. Berry, a former Army officer, was initially seen as an ally to whistleblowers within the military, advocating for reforms to address systemic issues. However, in recent years, particularly in relation to whistleblower claims from the Irish Air Corps, Berry has been perceived as less supportive, or even dismissive, of the concerns raised by those involved.
Some of the criticism stems from Berry’s reluctance to fully endorse or take a stronger public stance on specific whistleblower cases, possibly due to his complex relationship with the Defence Forces, where loyalty and internal solidarity can be deeply ingrained. His critics argue that, by not robustly supporting the Air Corps whistleblowers, Berry has failed to live up to his earlier promises of championing transparency and reform.
Others suggest that Berry’s political pragmatism may be influencing his decisions. As a member of the Dáil (the Irish parliament), his position on sensitive military matters may be influenced by a desire to maintain relationships within the Defence Forces or to avoid further controversy on an issue that could alienate potential allies or voters who are connected to the military.
In summary, while Cathal Berry has historically supported whistleblowers in principle, his perceived lack of strong support for the Irish Air Corps whistleblowers has led to accusations that he has not followed through on those commitments, possibly due to political or professional considerations.
There were also hazardous chemicals stored in open containers at the Haulbowline Naval Base in Cork late last year
Haulbowline Larry Cummins
A health and safety inspection at Naval Service headquarters resulted in the shutting down of a cadet canteen area after emergency exits were found blocked as well as damp and mould.
An inspector from the Health and Safety Authority visited the Haulbowline Naval Base in Cork late last year discovering fire doors that weren’t being properly maintained, open attic space between buildings, and storage of hazardous chemicals in open containers.
There were serious issues with a cadet mess building on the base with lower emergency exits “blocked by stairs” along with evidence of damp and mould on walls and floors.
The health and safety inspector asked the Naval Service to conduct an immediate review of the building in terms of its “fitness for use or occupation”. In early January, the Defence Forces wrote to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) to say it was no longer in active use.
A letter from Defence Forces Headquarters said:
“I can confirm and as per [our] action plan the Naval Service Cadets Mess is not used to accommodate any personnel following HSA inspection. Cadets [and] personnel were moved to alternative accommodation within the base.”
Read full article by Ken Foxe at the Irish Examiner
Despite repeated interventions by the Health & Safety Authority the Defence Forces cannot seem to get their houses in order.
The previous Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett was at the helm of the Defence Forces when the HSA threatened legal action against the Irish Air Corps.
Subsequently, Vice Admiral Mellett heaped praise upon then Brigadier General Seán Clancy as GOC Air Corps claiming that “Sean Clancy did a great job cleaning up the Air Corps” albeit after serving 30+ years in the same Air Corps he supposedly cleaned up.
Two service branches now under the command of Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Sean Clancy, namely the Air Corps and the Naval Service, have yet again come under the spotlight for poor Health & Safety including hazardous chemical breaches.
The Defence Forces have so far been as high as the Supreme Court in attempts to defend against legal cases relating to poor health & safety and unprotected hazardous chemical exposure yet the HSA continue to find them in contravention of legislation designed to protected their personnel.
There is no accountability in this organisation when it comes to incompetence & negligence on Health & Safety issues because it simply does not have a culture of Health & Safety, a fact which successive Defence Ministers have been more than happy to ignore.
The personnel claim toxic fumes emitted from the aircraft caused their illness, and they are accusing the MOD of being negligent about the risk to their health.
The Sea King is one of the helicopter types whose exhaust fumes allegedly caused cancer among a number of former aircrew
The Ministry of Defence is being sued by crew members who have been diagnosed with cancer after serving on military helicopters.
The personnel claim toxic fumes emitted from the aircraft caused their illness, and they are accusing the MOD of being negligent about the risk to their health.
According to a report by The Times, crew members who served on board helicopters such as the Sea King, Wessex, Puma and Chinook are among those who are taking legal action.
It includes those who’ve served in the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force from a variety of ranks.
They are saying they were exposed to concentrated levels of toxic exhaust fumes during their flights.
At least three of the former personnel affected have already passed away, while others have been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Five former service personnel have received out-of-court settlements, including a former flight sergeant who trained Prince William in the RAF.
It is being claimed the Government knew about the risk posed by the Sea King’s exhaust as far back as 1999, but aircrew continued to fly on board without safety precautions.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We hugely value our service personnel and veterans and owe a debt of gratitude to all those who serve, often with great personal sacrifice.
“We continually review our policies to ensure they are aligned with good practice and protect our people from harm.
Service personnel and veterans who believe they have suffered ill health due to service from 6 April 2005 have the existing and long-standing right to apply for no-fault compensation under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.”
Damaged drains, cables across hangar floors, a leaking oven, oil spills and a risk of Legionnaires’ disease… these are just a few of the workplace hazards inspectors found at Casement Aerodrome
Health and safety inspections on the Irish Air Corps discovered spills of hazardous brake fluid, a water supply that carried the risk of Legionnaires disease, fall risks, damaged drains and trailing cables across hangar floors.
The Defence Forces were also issued with a contravention notice by the Health & Safety Authority (HSA) over the use of some chemicals without proper training of personnel.
A separate report from December said that several safety data sheets were outdated and recommended additional training on the handling of specific restricted chemicals.
Read full article by Ken Foxe at the Irish Mail on Sunday via Pressreader…
The Dáil has heard that several long-serving members of the Air Corps have been penalised for having made protective disclosures which flagged concerns over health and safety.
An Irish Air Corps workshop in Engineering Wing in 2007
Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit – Solidarity TD, said that the disclosures related to using “dangerous chemicals”, the inability of all members of a team to have children and the lack of oversight of officers who were never held to account.
As a result of “the failure of the top brass”, the Mr Boyd Barrett said, one of the whistle-blower’s “felt that he had to retire”.
The man was unable to bring a case before the Workplace Relations Commission as he was advised, “you’re not an employee, you’re a worker”.
He has now agreed to have his story recounted to the Dáil, Mr Boyd Barrett told the deputies present.
“Sergeant Patrick Gorman served for 35 years in the Air Corps” with “an exemplary conduct rating”, having served in Lebanon, Somalia, Liberia and Chad, sometimes on multiple tours of duty, said Mr Boyd Barrett.
“He blew the whistle about his treatment and the treatment of other members of the Defence Forces… who made protected disclosures and who were penalised as a result.”
Children exposed to ‘contaminated clothing’
“They were wearing gloves, for example, that disintegrated on contact with chemicals that they were been asked to use” on aircraft repairs, he said of Sgt Gorman’s experiences.
“He was working with them for 18 years without a respirator, and it was only in the last two years that they got the respirator.
“In a group of seven people working in the sheet metal structural repair shop, seven of the people couldn’t have children, which seems quite incredible.”
Mr Boyd Barrett revealed that some of the carcinogenic chemicals involved were referenced in the eponymous film about the famous US whistleblower, Erin Brockovich, who successfully sued a utility firm for hundreds of millions of dollars for contaminating drinking water.
“Paint strippers that were banned elsewhere, still being used in the Irish Defence Forces,” he said.
Soldiers were not warned about contaminated clothing which they wore “home to their kids”, and which led to “it being mixed in with the washing of children and the rest of the family, potentially contaminating them with dangerous chemicals”.
Sgt Gorman did the right thing in 2015/2016 by making Protected Disclosures to the Minister for Defence and the Health & Safety Authority which resulted in the HSA threatening legal action against Air Corps if they failed to implement urgent chemical health & safety reforms.
The Department’s own “O’Toole Report” and the almost three year HSA interventions fully vindicated Sgt Gorman. However, the response of the Irish Air Corps, the Department of Defence & successive Ministers (Coveney, Kehoe & Varadkar) was to ensure that Sgt Gorman was constructively dismissed.
The Air Corps Toxic Chemical Exposure Scandal broke in the Irish Examiner thanks to Joe Leogue in January 2017. Despite being raised in excess of twenty times in the Dáil, Seanad, Public Accounts Committee and even Varadkar’s confidence motion, this is the first time that RTE have reported on the scandal #106 dead.
Nearly 100 RAF soldiers were ordered to guard the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant in 2003. They didn’t know it was covered in sodium dichromate, a deadly chemical that causes cancer.
Iraq war veteran Andy Tosh points to his nose where he was treated for skin cancer and shows the red marks on his hand.
His health has been permanently damaged – not by the baking heat of the Iraqi desert, he says, but by a toxic chemical at the industrial site he was ordered to guard.
“It’s clear British troops were knowingly exposed,” the 58-year-old former RAF sergeant says.
Sky News can reveal that nearly 100 British troops may have been exposed to sodium dichromate while guarding the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant in 2003.
Ten British veterans who guarded the plant have now spoken publicly about their ordeal – and say they feel “betrayed” by the UK government after struggling with a range of health problems, including daily nosebleeds, a brain tumour and three who have been diagnosed with cancer.
Described as a “deadly poison”, sodium dichromate is a known carcinogen. The ground at Qarmat Ali was covered in it, according to the former servicemen.
The Ministry of Defence says it is willing to meet the veterans to work with them going forward – but the former troops say they want answers and accountability.
Before the US took over the site, the water was filtered and treated with sodium dichromate to increase the life of pipelines, pumps, and other equipment.
It’s a type of hexavalent chromium, a group of compounds made famous by the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, which dramatised the contamination of water around a California town.
“I noticed a rash on my forearms,” Mr Tosh said. “I’d operated in other hot tropical countries, I’ve never had a rash like I had on my forearms.
“Other members of our teams had different symptoms but at the time we had no idea why.”
It was a mystery.
That is, until two workers in hazmat suits and respirator masks turned up in August 2003 and put up a sign with a skull and crossbones on it.
“Warning. Chemical hazard. Full protective equipment and chemical respirator required. Sodium dichromate exposure” the sign read.
“We were shocked,” Mr Tosh added. “We’d already been on that site for months, being exposed.
“It was a different type of threat that none of us could really understand.”
US commander’s death linked to sodium dichromate
The plight of US troops who were exposed to sodium dichromate at Qarmat Ali is far better documented than their UK counterparts. National guardsmen who visited the site have become ill, leading to a formal inquiry and government support for veterans across the pond.
“While I was at Qarmat Ali, I began suffering from severe nosebleeds,” Russell Powell, an American former medic, told a Senate inquiry.
Within three days of arriving at the plant in April 2003 he developed rashes on his knuckles, hands and forearms, he said. Others in his platoon suffered similar ailments, he added.
Mr Powell said he had questioned a KBR worker about the powder, who said his supervisors had told him not to worry about it.
Speaking at a hearing in 2009 held as part of the inquiry, Mr Powell added: “My symptoms have not changed since my service in Iraq… I cannot take a full breath.” Lieutenant-Colonel James Gentry, of the Indiana National Guard, was stationed at Qarmat Ali in 2003.
“They had this information and didn’t share it,” he said in a deposition video, his face pale as he struggled to breathe. He was referring to contractors KBR.
“I’m dying now because of it.”
Lt Col Gentry died from cancer in 2009. The US Army deemed that his death was “in line of duty for exposure to sodium dichromate”, according to court documents.
Read full article by Michael Drummond on the Sky News website…
Ardrox 666, which contains hexavalent sodium chromate, running down the walls of the Irish Air Corps NDT Shop from an extractor fan in 2007
Hexavalent Chromium is & was widely used on a regular basis in the Irish Air Corps. It must be noted the Irish Air Corps ignored the chemical provisions of the Safety, Health & Welfare At Work Acts, 1989 & 2005 until the Health & Safety Authority threatened legal action in 2016 to force them to comply. This was after whistleblowing by a serving Air Corps member who was subsequently constructively dismissed.
Hexavalent Chromium and other very hazardous chemicals were used in the past by teenage apprentice technicians who had no chemical handling training, no education on the short or long term chemical exposure risks as well as no PPE.
Furthermore, when the Irish Air Corps discovered contaminated workshops in 1995 they hid this from personnel. When told by state body Forbairt in 1997 to to give all personnel chemical handling training, issue PPE and train personnel in how to use it they ignored this instruction too.
Some examples of chemical products used in Baldonnel that contain hexavalent chromium (chromates or dichromates) are listed below.
The State has paid out more than €10m in legal settlements of claims against the Defence Forces in the last four years but faces paying many times that amount in the coming years.
The Department of Defence has admitted that there are a total of 482 current and “open” cases against the Defence Forces. These include personal injury claims and judicial reviews.
It paid out some €10,698,855 in respect of cases taken by current or former members of the Defence Forces from 2020 to 2023.
A spokesperson said this figure represents “the total value of settlements recorded arising from litigation”.
“Any case taken against the Defence Forces, for whatever reason, must be taken against the Minister for Defence because the Defence Forces cannot act as defendants or respondents in cases of litigation.
“The Department of Defence is therefore responsible for the management of all such litigation cases, including those taken by current or former members of the Defence Forces. This litigation includes personal injuries claims.”
Defence Forces Justice Alliance spokesperson Alan Nolan said that in many cases, personnel are forced down the route of litigation.
“This is because the internal reporting and complaints channels are so unfit for purpose, personnel often use litigation as a last resort to seek justice.
The saddest thing is that even when a case might be won or lost, nothing really changes because the State might have to pay, but they don’t have to be held accountable by anybody.”
The Department has also confirmed that anybody suing the Defence Forces will still be able to give evidence in the forthcoming tribunal.
The tribunal is being established to see if the army’s complaints system is fit for purpose. The decision to hold the inquiry followed the publication of a review into allegations of brutal and “sadistic” abuse — including the rape of both male and female soldiers.
A Women of Honour spokesperson said:
“The level of payouts is a small indicator of the wrongs being perpetrated in the Defence Forces. This is a further reason why a full statutory tribunal of inquiry is required to examine what really is going on inside the Defence Forces. Sadly the Forces have become a centre of abuse of all forms and before it can be fully reformed.”
There had been concern among organisations like the Defence Forces Justice Alliance and the Women of Honour that anybody involved in proceedings would be barred from giving evidence.
The Department spokesperson said:
“Such personnel are not precluded from giving testimony/evidence to the tribunal.”
Ultimately, it will be a matter for the chair of the tribunal to determine the extent of the evidence to be heard, the spokesperson added.
Read full article by Neil Michael on the Irish Examiner website…
Failure to invite soldier back for unit presentation is ‘biggest slap in the face’, says airman
Unfortunate “Daft Dave” runs scared after tripping up multiple times…
It has been alleged to the Workplace Relations Commission that around half a dozen Air Corps service members were not afforded a retirement ceremony when they left the service as an act of penalisation for turning whistleblower. The claim was aired after the State failed in a bid to have the press excluded from a whistleblower protection claim against the Department of Defence earlier on Wednesday.
An Air Corps commandant gave evidence that the sort of “unit presentation” complained about would be organised primarily by colleagues and peers, and that there was “no responsibility on anyone” to arrange a retirement party.
Former airman Patrick Gorman claims he was penalised in breach of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 on the grounds that he was not invited back to his former unit to receive a presentation marking his retirement because he made protected disclosures a number of years earlier. His representative, Niall Donohue, told the Workplace Relations Commission on Wednesday that up to six former members of the No 4 Support Wing of the Air Corps, based at Baldonnel Aerodrome, “all got the same treatment” after making protected disclosures, and were prepared to come and testify in support of his claim.
Mr Guidera, appearing instructed by the Chief State Solicitor’s Office, had sought a hearing “in camera” in a motion resisted by the complainant’s representative Mr Donohue.
“This is strictly in the public interest. The facts, if heard, will be greatly appreciated by the public,” Mr Gorman said.
“The biggest slap in the face you could give a soldier who’d served 35 years in the Defence Forces would be to not invite him back for a unit presentation,” Mr Gorman told the tribunal.
Mr Donohue said the alleged denial of a retirement ceremony to the veteran “undermined his reputation in the community of the Defence Forces. Why was this done to him? The answer is it was done to him because he put in his protected disclosure.”
There was legal argument over the interpretation of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 as it applied to a member of the Defence Forces.
Mr Guidera contended Defence Forces personnel only have the status of a “worker” as defined in the legislation – leaving them without the protections afforded to an “employee” in the Act.
Mr Donohue argued that the words “worker” and “employee” in the whistleblower protection law were “interchangeable”.
The adjudicator said he would adjourn the hearing to consider preliminary arguments on the admissibility of the claim, adding that he would decide at that stage whether to call a senior officer as sought by the complainant.
Read full article by Stephen Bourke on the Irish Times website…
