Despite a promise of justice, Air Corps chemical exposure survivors say the Irish State continues to deny and delay accountability
A former member of the Defence Forces who says his health has been destroyed by exposure to dangerous chemicals during his service has called for the Government to “let the truth come out”.
The State agreed last week to pay €2m to Gary Coll, 51, to settle a legal case taken by him in relation to his claims, without accepting liability.
Mr Coll served as an aviation technician with the Irish Air Corps in Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, between 1991 and 1997.
His case is the first of ten which have been taken by former members in relation to what they say was the failure by the State to protect them from exposure to dangerous chemicals.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Upfront with Katie Hannon, Mr Coll said the State is “hiding behind the State Claims Agency, hiding behind the Courts.”
“The minister stands up and says he can’t look at a health and safety issue because he has to wait for the go-ahead from the State Claims Agency, or the Courts? No. It’s a cop-out to hide behind the court cases,” he said.
Mr Coll says he now suffers from chronic fatigue, has issues with his heart, breathing, and memory, recurring ulcers, and is unable to maintain his core body temperature.
He says during his service there was exposure to chemicals during basic work tasks.
“There was fumes, chemicals being used openly with no extraction systems, within feet of where you worked,” Mr Coll said.
“The place was a mess, the floors were that dirty that people were afraid they would catch fire, there was that much oil and chemicals spilled on the floor of the hangers,” he said.
There was also a tradition of ‘tubbing’ in the Air Corps, whereby individuals would be dunked into tanks of chemicals for various purposes, including as part of initiations or hazing.
He said such tubbing happened to him several times.
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Mr Coll joined the Air Corps as a teenager, and represented it in national and international rugby and rowing tournaments in the earlier years of his service.
He said he left his job in his mid-20s due to a slew of medical conditions he experienced while he was still serving, including headaches, vomiting, diarrhoea and nosebleeds.
He now requires the use of a mobility scooter or walking stick to get around.
“I suffered anxiety for years, about 2004 or 2005 I started developing neurological problems, pins and needles, tremors and shakes, it started effecting my balance, my memory’s gone, my short-term memory.”
“In a few months time, I’ll probably forget being here tonight,” Mr Coll said.
Two other former Air Corps members also spoke on the programme. Neither are currently taking legal cases, but both believe exposure to chemicals during their service has significantly damaged their health.
Paul Flynn, 52, spoke to presenter Katie Hannon by video call from his hospital bed. He has been in hospital for 15 months.
He joined the Air Corps in 1988 a week after his 16th birthday. From 1991 to 1998, when he left the service, he worked preparing aircraft parts for painting with primers, topcoats, and spraying.
He said in his early days working in the role there was no protective equipment “at all” provided. Several years later, he said he bought his own air-fed mask, but the line installed to feed it was placed beside a compressor in another room where chemicals were also present.
“I have issues with breathing, sometimes I’m on oxygen… I would like the Government to acknowledge that the chemicals have injured people,” Mr Flynn said, who accepts he cannot definitively link his health issues to chemical exposure.
“The Australian and Dutch government have admitted the same chemicals that we used caused the same injuries we have. I want the Irish Government to admit to that and provide us with whatever care they we need.”
Mr Flynn, aged 52, says his medical team is now advising he move to a nursing home.
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Michael Byrne joined the Air Corps having served earlier in the army, he entered to train as a winchman, having passed a fitness selection course.
Unlike Mr Coll and Mr Flynn, he did not serve in the paint shop, but he says he was exposed to chemicals during refuelling of aircraft without PPE.
He said he was splashed with chemicals, and had to breathe in chemicals, as he was required to keep his face close to the refuelling point on the aircrafts.
“There was often – a common occurrence – you’d get an airlock, a backwash of fuel into the eyes, into the mouth, ingested it,” he said.
Within a year of joining the Air Corps after the army, Mr Byrne said, his health began to deteriorate, and he eventually left his job.
“I joined the Air Corps to hang out of helicopters. I joined it for the adventure. When I became sick and I wasn’t able to do the duties anymore – and because under aviation law because I was on high dose steroids, you’re not allowed to fly – I was given jobs like answering phones, I was cleaning toilets at times. So I left, disheartened, and I left.”
“I’ve had two knee replacements, I’m due two hip replacements, I currently have a fractured spine, I’m in a brace at the moment, from just doing menial tasks around the house.”
He said he can not definitively trace his health issues to chemical exposure, but says the timeline is significant.
“I was perfectly healthy, from that point – within a year – I went from running ten miles a day to not being able to run across the road when a car came.”
Mr Byrne is not taking a legal case because he is “just trying to get through day-to-day at the moment, just with pain and managing everything like that.
“I want answers, I’m going downhill, my elbows swell, my knees swell … It was proven in Australia, why can’t they use those templates? At home, most days I don’t move, I can’t get up” he said.
In Australia, in 2009 there was a parliamentary inquiry into similar issues which resulted in payments and healthcare services – including cancer screening – being provided to former Royal Australian Air Force members who were exposed to dangerous chemicals.
Several former Air Corps members who say they have been exposed are calling on the Government to take similar action. In particular, they are calling on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to act.
The Taoiseach and other ministers note that the handling of complaints raised about chemical exposed fall under a Tribunal of Inquiry which was set up after the so-called ‘Women of Honour’, which revealed concerns about bullying, misogyny and sexual assault within the Defence Forces.
In June 2017, Mr Coll and others met Mr Martin, then the leader of the opposition, to outline their concerns and issues related to chemical exposure.
Mr Martin subsequently told the Dáil that three whistleblowers had warned in November 2015 about conditions in the Air Corps maintenance units in Baldonnel, and the degree to which staff were “exposed to very dangerous solvents and chemicals.”
Mr Martin at the time called on the government of the day to commission an independent board of inquiry “into this entire affair and scandal,” summarising the then-government’s response as “deny, deny, deny, resist, resist, resist.”
“The linkage of the particular chemicals to cancer-causing diseases, genetic mutation, neurological conditions and chronic diseases have been well-established”, Mr Martin said at the time.
In a statement to Upfront from Katie Hannon, a spokesperson for Mr Martin said “throughout his time as Taoiseach, and as Minister for Defence, the health and safety of the men and women of the Defence Forces has been a priority.
“There are a number of other personal injury claims currently active before the courts, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to encroach on the independence of the legal process.
“The Defence Forces Tribunal of Inquiry was established in June 2024 and, as part of its terms of reference, will investigate the response to complaints made regarding the use of hazardous chemicals within Air Corps’ headquarters at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel.”
The Department of Defence told Upfront with Katie Hannon: “The Health and Wellbeing of the men and women working in the Air Corps is a priority for the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, as it is for the Defence Forces Management and the Department of Defence.
“The decision to take litigation is a matter for each individual, as is the decision to engage in dialogue to explore and potentially reach a settlement in relation to such matters. In respect of the recently reported case, the parties agreed to settle the matter before the commencement of the trial, on terms agreed by both sides, with the benefit of legal advice at every stage of the process.”
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