Former Air Corps personnel deserve answers and medical care urgently – Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD
11 February 2025
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Defence, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD, has today responded to revelations on Upfront with Katie Hannon last night, which highlighted multiple cases of long-term medical conditions that former air corps personnel believe to be connected to exposure to hazardous chemicals.
Teachta Ó Laoghaire said:
“The urgent priority now must be ensuring the medical needs of the former personnel are addressed but that there is also a need for answers.
“I commend the courage and bravery of the former Air Corps personnel who have come forward to tell their stories in recent days, in particular, Gary Coll, who recently received a settlement from the State.
“It cannot be easy and undoubtedly would have taken a toll on these people. The truth of it is that nothing can undo the illnesses, injuries or disabilities that they may have developed over their time in the Defence Forces.
“What they deserve most urgently of all is to have their medical care addressed. I am calling for an immediate medical assessment of former air corps personnel to see whether they were affected by exposure to chemicals.
“The government also needs to engage with the personnel in question to ensure that a mechanism is found to ensure that the personnel and their families are supported with medical care. They also deserve answers.
“It is abundantly clear that many people over the years were exposed to any amounts of hazardous chemicals with little to no protective equipment and were not informed of the risks associated with these chemicals, as well as practices such as ‘tubbing’.
“To date there has not been an adequate enquiry into this overall issue and the module in the IRG tribunal relates to the manner in which complaints were handled, it does not address the wider issue of large scale exposure to dangerous chemicals and the potential impact on health.
“The testimonies of the former personnel and their families is frightening, people whose health conditions have robbed them of their health, their fitness, their livelihoods, and their mental health.
“They deserve answers and the truth as to what awareness the Defence Forces, successive Ministers for Defence, the Department and successive governments have had, on the potential linkages between these chemicals and serious health conditions.
“We have seen on the one hand, publicly sympathetic statements from the government but in private, adversarial legal strategies.
“It is particularly incumbent on the Taoiseach Micheál Martin, given his past support for the affected Air Corps personnel and his calling for a public enquiry, to clarify his current position and outline how he and Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Simon Harris, intend to ensure that these people are given the medical care and answers that they deserve.
“We know that the same chemicals were at the heart of similar issues in the Netherlands and Australia, and that those governments recognised their responsibility to their own former personnel.
“The potential scale and seriousness of this is quite considerable and the Taoiseach needs to urgently address these issues and do the right thing by the former Air Corps personnel and their families.”
