Dept of Transport: ‘No conflict of interest’ in €700m state helicopter contract bid
Frazer-Nash, the English consultancy firm which worked on the business case approved by cabinet, is itself owned by a large private search and rescue operator called Babcock International.
The Department of Transport has insisted that safeguards were put in place to prevent any “potential conflict of interest” in using an English consultancy firm for the new state helicopter rescue contract worth up to €700 million.
For the past nine years, the contract for flying 800 search-and-rescue Irish Coast Guard missions annually has been outsourced to CHC Ireland, a subsidiary of the US-owned Canadian Helicopter Corporation.
The cabinet decided at its final meeting before ...
