An information resource for serving & former members of the Irish Army Air Corps suffering illness due to unprotected toxic chemical exposure in the workplace.
The State’s response to decade-old Air Corps chemical exposure scandal is clearly one of ‘deny, delay, die’
Gavin Tobin beside Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel Co. Dublin. it has been over a decade since he, one of the whistle-blowers, first took legal action against the State Photo: Gareth Chaney
I have a personal yardstick by which to measure how long it has been since the Irish Examiner broke news of the scandal of the chemical exposures suffered by Air Corps personnel.
I will always know my first story on this was published in January 2017.
I remember because a couple of weeks or so after a series of revelations in this newspaper, I was coming out of a maternity ward buzzing from the high of becoming a father for the first time.
Leaving the hospital, I checked my voicemail, assuming the missed call from a private number was a well-wisher leaving a quick note of congratulations.
The curt tone that greeted me made it apparent this was not the case. Instead, a senior member of the government of the day was letting me know, in a very diplomatic “I’m not angry, just disappointed” manner, what he thought of our coverage of the Air Corps scandal.
For obvious reasons I can’t recall verbatim a voicemail from over nine years ago, but the word that stood out then and still does now was “unfair”.
We had revealed that Air Corps personnel were not properly protected from the dangerous, carcinogenic, chemicals with which they worked in Casement Aerodrome.
We highlighted how whistle-blowers raising the alarm felt they were not being heard by the Defence Forces, the State, or senior politicians.
After public pronouncements from one minister to say they were not aware of any issues whistle-blowers had with contacting them, we published a series of messages between whistle-blowers and politicians that showed they had unsuccessfully tried to speak with the cabinet member on the matter.
State can act swiftly in certain matters
When RTÉ broke the Women of Honour story in 2021, detailing abuse suffered by female members of the Defence Forces, an official investigation and tribunal of inquiry swiftly followed.
The Air Corps allegations were added to the terms of reference of this tribunal — but jaded campaigners understandably believe they were only thrown in as an afterthought, benefitting from the larger outcry over a different scandal.
Even then, the tribunal is tasked with probing the handling of complaints about toxic exposure, not the exposure itself.
What is most unforgiveable about the State’s inaction on this issue is that a blueprint was there for them to follow.
The Australian Air Force had similar complaints from its mechanics, and established investigations, health screening, and supports for those affected.
“A precedent has been set by Australia where, in the early 2000s, the issue was identified and acted on by the Australian government,” Micheál Martin told the Dáil in 2017.
“Why was the State so slow to respond to the whistle-blowers and to investigate the health conditions at Baldonnel?” the man who is now Taoiseach asked.
Read full article by Joe Leogue at the Irish Examiner website below.
Years of exposure to toxic chemicals while serving in the Air Corps have left Mick Murphy practically bed-ridden.
After serving in the army and then the air corps before distinguished service in the gardaí, Mick Murphy has much to be proud of.
As well as a successful battle against cancer in his 20s, the 53-year-old also brims with pride when he thinks about his three daughters and his son.
But there is also sadness. Years of exposure to toxic chemicals while serving in the air corps have taken their toll. They have left him practically bed-ridden amid decades of constantly battling one illness after the other.
When Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, then in opposition, labelled the air corps toxic chemical exposure scandal a “horror story” in the Dáil in 2017, Mr Murphy knew exactly what he was talking about.
The previous year, there were only two months when he wasn’t in a hospital. Then, that December, he got hit by double pneumonia and pulmonary sepsis. As a result, he now has to use a nebuliser four times a day as well as an inhaler. He had to have an oxygen-compression machine fitted in his bedroom and oxygen tanks installed downstairs.
Mr Murphy’s horror story began just a few years after he completed his Leaving Certificate in 1989.
About four years after he started in the air corps, he started getting tired more often and experienced chest pain, night sweats, and a persistent cough.
A year after daughter Aoife was born, he got news he didn’t expect: He had the blood cancer Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was only 23.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he says. “I was just floored by the news. I was never told any cause for my cancer and I suppose I just thought I had been a bit unlucky in life. It was only later in life that I heard about friends I had served with either died or ended up being really sick.
Unbeknown to him at the time, the disease is one of the cancers linked to exposure to certain industrial chemical solvents like TCE.
Other consequences of exposure to toxic chemicals include an increased risk of developing depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders.
There was no history of cancer in his family so the diagnosis came as a massive shock.
Read full article by Neil Michael at the Irish Examiner website below.
Despite repeated warnings, rising litigation and more than 100 suspected premature deaths, air corps survivors say they are still fighting for answers and support almost a decade after the then Taoiseach promised action, writes Neil Michael
Photo: Gareth Chaney
On Wednesday, February 1, 2017, the then taoiseach ended a heated debate about air corps personnel exposure to toxic chemicals with five words.
Addressing the Dáil, Enda Kenny vowed: “We will sort this out.”
He was bruised by Micheál Martin’s excoriation of him, his government, and his ministers for their “unacceptable response” to “a very serious issue which could represent a serious scandal”.
Days previously, the Irish Examiner had published exclusive articles by reporter Joe Leogue exposing allegations around chemical exposure to personnel in the Air Corps.
State Claims Agency involvement
They also came a year after investigators for the State Claims Agency (SCA) were informed air corps personnel using toxic chemicals did not have access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and had never had access to it, or training on how to handle toxic chemicals.
The SCA found this out because after it received a claim in August 2013, which alleged personal injuries were caused by exposure to toxic substances in Baldonnel, it emailed the Department of Defence’s litigation branch.
The agency asked the department to appoint a liaison officer to prepare a detailed claims report outlining the background and circumstances of the claim the SCA had received in August 2013.
Timeline
1980s: Air corps personnel begin requesting protective equipment and safety measures for handling toxic chemicals.
2013: The State Claims Agency (SCA) receives chemical‑exposure claim lodged by air corps technician and whistleblower Gavin Tobin. It asks the Department of Defence to appoint a liaison officer and compile a detailed claims report.
Mr Tobin files High Court case seeking records of chemicals he was exposed to during air corps service.
2014: SCA receives Chemical Exposure Report (1994-2005).
2015: First of three protected disclosures made by Mr Tobin to then defence minister Simon Coveney.
2016: The Health and Safety Authority warns air corps it faces prosecution unless 13 safety recommendations are implemented.
2016: Department of Defence appoints Christopher O’Toole to review whistleblowers’ allegations.
2017: Joe Leogue’s reporting in the Irish Examiner triggers scrutiny.
O’Toole report submitted in June, days before Micheál Martin meets air corps survivors in Leinster House.
2018: HSA satisfied air corps has implemented the 2016 safety recommendations. It considers the matter closed.
2024: Complaint made about an air purifier in an air corps hangar made to air corps chiefs.
2025: Air corps survivor Gary Coll settles his High Court case for €2m.
Then defence minister Simon Harris tells the Dáil there is “active engagement” between the SCA and litigants to find “mutually agreeable resolutions”.
Mr Tobin makes protected disclosure to Mr Harris about issues raised in 2024 around an air purifier.
New defence minister Helen McEntee declines a meeting with Gavin Tobin citing ongoing litigation. Department of Defence examining how an assessment of needs could work. Mr Martin tells the Irish Examiner he supports the proposed review and “will have a look” at what emerges.
Read full article by Neil Michael at the Irish Examiner website below.
Health and Safety Authority inspectors visited hangars and workshops at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, Co Dublin, in December 2023, and numerous issues were raised in relation to health and safety of staff.
The Defence Forces was warned it could be prosecuted over health and safety breaches in the air corps in 2023, more than seven years after issues were first raised.
Health and Safety Authority (HSA) inspectors visited hangars and workshops at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, Co Dublin, in December 2023, and numerous issues were raised in relation to health and safety of staff.
Details of the inspection have been released, as up to 20 men are taking a case against the State, claiming exposure to hazardous chemicals while working for the Air Corps.
They say they were not provided with personal protective equipment (PPE), or training in the handling or use of hazardous chemicals.
After the 2023 inspection, the HSA warned the Air Corps: “Failure to comply with this advice and relevant legal requirements may result in further enforcement action, including prosecution.”
On the day of the inspection, the HSA issued the Defence Forces with a contravention notice in relation to staff working with diisocyanates, which are highly reactive toxic chemicals used in foams, coatings, adhesives, and sealants.
Occupational exposure can cause severe asthma and, in some cases, cancer.
Read full article by Neil Michael at the Irish Examiner
One of Ireland’s leading public health experts has said there are grounds for an in-depth examination into the deaths of more than 400 serving and retired Air Corps personnel.
Professor Anthony Staines believes there are indications that the death rates among the personnel — around 200 of whom died under the age of 65 between 1980 and 2026 — appear to be “excessively high”.
Around 20 men are taking cases against the State amid claims they were exposed to hazardous chemicals while working for the Air Corps and were not provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) or training in the use of hazardous chemicals. Many worked with chemicals used to clean engine parts.
The data raises some questions which merit a more in-depth examination,” Mr Staines said. “You have to understand that people who joined the Air Corps would be among the fittest, and would have to pass many sorts of tests.
“Given the number of men who have died prematurely, there are — in my view — enough suspicious indications that there is something, or was something, going on. This might be due to errors in the data collected, but it could represent a real problem.”
Some of the data includes information relating to 115 premature deaths collated by Gavin Tobin, who has been campaigning for health care and other support for Air Corps personnel who were exposed to toxic chemicals when they served.
The rest of the data has been collated by the Irish Examiner from a trawl through death notices. While it is estimated that since 1980 around 700 to 800 serving and former personnel have died, it was only possible to verify information in relation to 411 of them.
The Taoiseach is to look at proposals to review the healthcare needs of sick former Air Corps personnel.
Photo by Neil Michael
The review, initiated by then defence minister Simon Harris after it was suggested by Sinn Féin Cork South Central TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, was set up earlier this year to see how an assessment of needs could work.
Micheál Martin said he was supportive of the initiative when he was asked by the Irish Examiner, saying: “I will have a look at what they are proposing.”
Concerns were raised by Air Corps whistleblower Gavin Tobin more than 10 years ago regarding the issue.
Mr Martin is the third senior Government figure to show interest in a review of former Air Corps personnel’s health needs.
On Tuesday, defence minister Helen McEntee — who succeeded Mr Harris in November — told the Dáil senior officials in her department recently met Mr Ó Laoghaire to discuss the review.
Off the back of what she said was a “constructive” meeting, she told TDs she hoped to have a detailed report on proposals for a review of health needs by next March.
A toxic mercury spill temporarily shut down one of the Air Corps’ hangars, the Defence Forces have confirmed.
Details of the spill first emerged in an email sent on Monday by a commandant at Air Corps Headquarters in Casement Airbase, Baldonnel. He warned “all personnel” that Hangar No 4 was closed “due to a mercury spillage.”
He informed staff that the Air Corps Health and Safety Section had taken control of the clean-up operation and that the area would remain cordoned off until specialised cleaning equipment arrived.
A Defence Forces spokesperson confirmed the incident occurred at approximately 1.45pm on Monday.
A small quantity — 100 mg — of metallic mercury was accidentally spilled inside the hangar when an avionics device, a manometer, was dropped during transport.
The spokesperson said: “No personnel were exposed, and the affected area was immediately sealed off as a precautionary measure.
Air Corps Headquarters contacted the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and notified the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The spokesperson added: “There was no risk to personnel health at any time prior to the incident, as the mercury was securely contained and only present in a very small amount.
The spill occurred in the same hangar that recently hosted the Aviation and Aerospace Careers Expo, AvCon 2025.
The annual event showcases aviation careers and technology to more than 8,000 students across primary, secondary, and third-level education.
The Irish Examiner has learned that before the conference, the HSA received a complaint about the storage of turbine engine oils and hydraulic fluids in the hangar.
The Air Corps has been asked why the HSA visited the base and what actions or assurances resulted from the inspection.
Once again the Irish Air Corps play fast & loose with oversight authorities as they only notified the EPA & HSA after the Defence Forces press office was contacted by the journalist.
Watch Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD, the Sinn Fein Spokesperson for Defence, ask Tánaiste & Minister for Defence Simon Harris to discuss health and safety measures in the Air Corps for the third time.
Transcript
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Féin)
Question:3. . Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence to outline, further to recent Dáil debates, his views on past health and safety measures in the Air Corps, and potential engagements with interested groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31321/25]
This question relates to issues relating to the safety measures, or lack thereof, that potentially existed in terms of Air Corps aircraft maintenance personnel over the course of recent decades. We spoke about two broad areas during our last discussion. One was the court-related issues. I flag that in response to the points the Minister made last time, several people have told me the engagement with the State Claims Agency is not anything like it should be. Even separate to that, there is the need for a policy-oriented response from the Department.
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
In fairness to the Deputy, he put me on notice that he is going to raise this issue on each and every occasion, quite rightly and understandably considering the seriousness of it. As I set out previously, and as I am obliged to set out every time this question is posed to me, and despite the constructive way in which the question has been put forward, any discussions we might seek to have or any comments I make are necessarily limited in light of the ongoing litigation in respect of this matter currently being before our courts. I have set out this position in the House previously. There is a limit to what I can say in the circumstances to avoid intrusion into the independent role of our courts in respect of these matters.
The issue of alleged exposure to chemicals in the Air Corps is, as the Deputy said, the subject of a number of litigation cases, the management of which has been statutorily delegated to the State Claims Agency. I do, though, wish to advise the Deputy – while remaining faithful to the limitations I have just set out – that at my request and following on from our discussions my officials have started to develop preliminary options and begun a process of the consideration in relation to any possible actions that may inform the general position of those who allege experiencing harm arising from potential chemical exposure. The initial exercise is under way. It is exploratory and arises from my undertaking to the Deputy during previous sessions of oral parliamentary questions. I do not want to go into too many specifics at this point. This is primarily because a considerable portion of the nature and scope of any proposal will need to take account of what can be done without cutting across the current litigation cases and in the context of agreeing these limits and appropriate consultation.
This is not in my prepared answer, but I would be very happy to have a briefing with the Deputy on this matter and to ask my officials to sit down and hear his views and thoughts. As I said, there is a challenge in respect of meeting individual people but perhaps we could have my officials engage with the Deputy concerning some of his thoughts on this matter. I know they are working to try to make progress.
I again draw the Deputy’s attention to the point I made during our previous discussion on this matter, namely, that there is an ongoing process of engagement between the State Claims Agency and current plaintiffs. I did ask that this process be given the time and space. I am interested to know what the Deputy is hearing in respect of that engagement.
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Féin)
On that point, while I understand there are restrictions on what the Minister can respond to me on, a former personnel member who was a part of aircraft maintenance said there was no current active engagement between the State Claims Agency and litigants despite what the Minister had claimed in the Dáil the previous week. The former personnel member stated that nobody from the State Claims Agency had talked to any survivors since before the recent settlement of a particular case. I ask the Minister to take that information away. I know there are limits on what he can say in response to me, but I ask him to take this information with him and put it to the State Claims Agency that there is not engagement.
Aside from that, I am glad to hear what the Minister said in respect of options being looked at. In terms of what we should be looking at, this seems clear to me. There are things that need to be worked up, but one of the most fundamental things is a health review and analysis of health outcomes. Related to that, it must be ensured that people are not out of pocket as a result of the healthcare situations they have found themselves in.
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
I will very much take away the point made by the Deputy there in respect of a lack of engagement because my note tells me there is an ongoing process of engagement. Clearly, both cannot be factually true. I will, therefore, personally undertake to clarify this point with the State Claims Agency and I am happy to revert to the Deputy.
As I said, my officials have begun an exploratory process to consider what options may be available to me from a policy perspective to consider this issue further. Without straying too far, my thinking is that there are legal cases and I would like all these resolved insofar as they can be in a constructive manner. Legal cases, however, always require cause and effect and being able to prove cause and effect. Regardless of that threshold, if there are people in our country who have health needs, there are examples in the past of where we have endeavoured to meet those health needs, separate and distinct from any legal process and trying to establish cause and effect, which people have every right to try to do. These are the two separate issues I am trying to grapple with. I do think of times in the past when, without any admissions of liability, the State has taken actions to try to meet the health needs of some of its people. This is something we should explore.
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Féin)
That is in the area we need to be looking at. There are potentially more things than that, but that is one of the crucial areas. It is not only the case here that other sectors or categories of people have had wrongs inflicted on them and sometimes it is difficult to put them all through the courts for a variety of reasons, but it has also been the case internationally. I have raised previously with the Minister some of the responses in Australia and the Netherlands in the context of aircraft maintenance personnel. The self-same issue has arisen elsewhere and it has been on the healthcare side of things.
Regarding what the Minister said about exploring options, I have two questions. What kind of timescale are we looking at? I would welcome the opportunity to have a briefing with the Minister and some of his officials, but, equally, it would hardly be appropriate if it was simply Members of this House who had that opportunity. There are representative organisations, such as the Air Corps Chemical Abuse Survivors organisation and potentially others. It would be only right that at some stage in this process they would have the opportunity to have an engagement.
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
When the time is right and the advice to me is that it is appropriate for me to have meetings, I will be very happy to engage. I obviously have the Deputy in a separate and distinct category as the spokesperson on defence for the largest Opposition party. I am happy to engage with him to see if we can constructively make progress. I will ask, and I have already asked, that we look at the examples in the other jurisdictions referred to by the Deputy. I do not have an exact timeline in relation to this matter. I am informed there are significant complexities in this regard. Perhaps at a meeting or a briefing we could tease through some of this issue in a bit more detail and then no doubt return to it at the next session of parliamentary questions as well.
Cases relating to exposure to dangerous chemicals used in aircraft maintenance are due before the courts
The State Claims Agency (SCA) is attempting to reach settlements with Air Corps members who were exposed to dangerous chemicals during their work, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.
It follows the conclusion of a landmark court case earlier this year in which a former Air Corps technician was awarded €2 million.
In what was seen as a major test case, Gary Coll (51), from Lifford, Co Donegal, alleged his exposure to chemicals in the workshops of Casement Aerodrome caused him severe and lifelong health problems.
On the opening day of the hearing last February the parties agreed a settlement that did not include any admission of responsibility by the State.
Campaigners accused the State of dragging out the legal process for more than a decade.
The case against the Department of Defence was the first of 10 personal injuries cases due before the courts relating to the exposure of Air Corps members to dangerous chemicals and solvents used in aircraft maintenance.
Campaigners say there are many other Air Corps veterans who have died prematurely or suffered severe health problems in connection with their work.
Now, Mr Harris, who is also Minister for Defence, has signalled the State is keen to settle the remaining cases.
“I want to see a resolution in this regard,” Mr Harris told the Dáil this week. “I am advised there is currently active engagement between the State Claims Agency and litigants to determine if mutually agreeable resolutions can be found to their cases.
“I want to see that happen and I encourage the State Claims Agency to continue that approach, as I know it will. Trying to bring this issue to a resolution that works is important.”
The Tánaiste said an engagement process with former Air Corps personnel is “now genuinely under way” and that it should be allowed proceed “to a point where there is an achievable outcome that is acceptable to all parties”.
Gavin Tobin, a former Air Corps technician, estimates there have been nearly 100 deaths that may have involved exposure to dangerous chemicals.
He rejected Mr Harris’s claim that the State is engaging with veterans and accused it of only coming to an agreement in Mr Coll’s case at the 11th hour.
“A haggle on the corridors of the High Court where the State Claims Agency attempts to destroy reputations by calling injured personnel liars is not engagement,” said Mr Tobin who has been campaigning for years on the issue and who also suffers serious health issues.
He accused the Government of “using the might of the State to threaten financial ruin” on plaintiffs if they reject settlement offers.
“Threatening bankruptcy unless we accept settlement is not an engagement process,” he said. “Nobody is engaging with us.”
Watch Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD, the Sinn Fein Spokesperson for Defence, ask Tánaiste & Minister for Defence Simon Harris to discuss health and safety measures in the Air Corps for the second time.
Transcript
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Féin)
Question:154. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence to outline, further to recent Dáil debates, his views on past health and safety measures in the Air Corps, and potential engagements with interested groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18076/25]
Over the course of many years, it seems many Air Corps personnel, primarily young working-class people who took jobs in the maintenance department of the Air Corps, were exposed to very hazardous and dangerous conditions with very few, or effectively no, safety precautions, certainly nothing by way of masks, adequate ventilation and so on. There are huge concerns about the health implications this has for those former personnel, and I will detail that later. I want to specifically ask the Minister if he has engaged with any of those affected or their representative groups and how he intends to ensure their health is safeguarded and supported.
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and for constructively discussing it with me at the last parliamentary questions session on defence matters. I have had engagement with my officials to try to tease through some of this since we last discussed this. As I set out on the last occasion this was raised in the House, and I feel obliged to repeat now, any discussion we have or certainly any comments that I make are necessarily restricted by the existence of ongoing litigation that is active before the courts. I want to see a resolution in this regard. I am advised there is currently active engagement between the State Claims Agency and litigants to determine if mutually agreeable resolutions can be found to their cases. I want to see that happen and I encourage the State Claims Agency to continue that approach, as I know it will. Trying to bring this issue to a resolution that works is important.
The ultimate priority for me and for the Defence Forces is the protection of the health and well-being of members of the Defence Forces in carrying out its essential service to the State. It is also important to me that, where possible, litigation of this nature can be concluded on reasonable terms agreeable to all parties to spare people having to take other routes. In the event that this cannot be achieved, the matter will fall to be determined by the courts but, again, I need to remain fully cognisant of my own position in that litigation.
It would be valuable in the engagement process that is now genuinely under way that it be allowed the opportunity to proceed without prejudice, and to see if we can get to a point where there is an achievable outcome that is acceptable to all parties. The question of alleged or potential historic exposure to chemicals in the Air Corps is a matter of considerable importance to me and I maintain an open mind in terms of future discussions and engagement. I have made the point that, in the past, there have been other areas where even if the State did not accept liability, people did try to meet the health needs of those impacted. I have asked that my officials continue to give thought to that issue and to keep me updated on the progress in relation to the State Claims Agency engagement and those further questions that I have asked it. I am saying in the Dáil today that I would like time to be given to that process of engagement that I genuinely believe is now under way.
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Féin)
I do not accept that for one second. Over many years, this House has dealt with many issues that have been proceeding through the courts and the State rightly did not intervene as between the two different parties or try to disturb the process of the courts. However, that is totally separate from whether the State itself identifies that there is a policy issue and a need for a policy response in relation to a category of people without interfering in the court process. That has happened numerous times, for example, with regard to the Magdalen laundries and different things like that where schemes were set up. There is nothing at this moment in time to prevent the Minister, without interfering in court cases, from engaging with representatives of those who were affected to ask what the State can do in terms of an examination of the health outcomes.
The best example, although it may not be perfect, is the one I gave from Australia, the Study of Health Outcomes in Aircraft Maintenance Personnel, SHOAMP, which identified the implications because personnel were facing serious issues.
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Maybe I was not clear but I thought I was saying something similar. There is a process ongoing in relation to the State Claims Agency trying to see if the legal cases can be resolved in a way that is to the satisfaction of both parties. In addition to that, I have also asked my officials, on the basis of the last exchange we had, to give consideration to other actions we may be able to take to try to meet the health needs of people. That is the point I am making. There is an engagement process under way now between the State Claims Agency, which has a delegated function from me, so it acts on behalf of the State and the Government, to see if we can get this to a position where those who have been impacted are satisfied and the State is satisfied too. All I am suggesting today, and I am constraining myself in not wanting to say anything unhelpful or that cuts across that process, is that I want to give it a little bit of time. I am happy to engage constructively on it and I have asked my officials to continue to think further on some of the points I have made to them, many of which have been influenced by the points made to me by the Deputy in this House some six weeks ago.
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Féin)
I put the Tánaiste on notice that I will be bringing this up again in six weeks and six weeks after that too. I am going to continue to pursue this. I would like it if we could bracket the State Claims Agency part and put that to one side because that is not what I am talking about. That needs to proceed and I hope it works out well, or as well as possible, for those affected.
One of the key points is that not everybody can afford to take the State to court. One of the organisations representing people is the Air Corps Chemical Abuse Survivors, ACCAS.
It does not comprise clinicians, and I am not a clinician, but it has identified 97 untimely deaths, and I believe it has used that phrase deliberately and carefully. It will take a health study to identify what can be connected or what is connected to chemical exposure but it seems to me, given that a direct connection was found in Australia and the Netherlands, these men, as it is almost exclusively men, perhaps with one or two women, were exposed to very dangerous chemicals. A lot of them are really sick. Many of them have died, and their families and friends believe they did so prematurely. This is very serious. I encourage the Tánaiste to engage with the ACCAS and any other relevant people to try to find a policy solution, aside from the courts solution.
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire. The differentiation he has made between the two processes is useful. The point he is making to me is that a number of people are not involved in legal proceedings, and they never wish to be involved in legal proceedings for whatever reason, but there are health issues that either have impacted them or are impacting them and their families have concerns about this, and there is a need to examine the health cause and effect, for want of a phrase, and to examine what other jurisdictions have done. This is something I will undertake to do, and I will come back to Deputy Ó Laoghaire on it. I expect he will be asking me about this again.
*****
In his response, the Minister stated that there is an “engagement process that is now genuinely under way.” This is the first time Air Corps Chemical Abuse Survivors have heard of any such process, casting serious doubt on its legitimacy or transparency.
The State Claims Agency (SCA) appears to be actively engaged in a cover-up aimed at ensuring none of these cases reach court, thereby preventing critical evidence from being examined. The SCA has a vested interest in the Air Corps toxic chemical exposure scandal, having overseen Health & Safety audits of the Air Corps for a decade, audits which ultimately led to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) threatening legal action due to serious deficiencies.
What is truly underway are legal proceedings, court cases that the SCA is vigorously trying to suppress. Their objective appears to be shielding both the Defence Forces and themselves from accountability for past negligence and fraudulent Health & Safety oversight.
To achieve this, the SCA has employed tactics such as issuing Calderbank Offers, an unusual legal mechanism used to intimidate Air Corps veterans with the threat of financial ruin. This allows the State to leverage its vast resources to deter legal challenges, even when those challenges are meritorious.
It is particularly galling that personnel within the SCA and the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) received performance-related bonuses for supposed improvements in Air Corps Health & Safety between 2006 and 2015, a period during which members were being actively exposed to toxic substances.
By claiming that a genuine engagement process is underway, the Minister is either being misled or is deliberately misleading the Oireachtas.
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Féin)
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)