TWENTY-two Air Corps pilots shared bonus pay of more than €500,000 last year for staying loyal to their employers in the Defence Forces.

The pilots – for whom transporting government ministers is one of the major tasks – received an average of €23,337 last year each in a special loyalty bonus, according to figures from the Department of Defence.

The incentive scheme was designed to keep pilots in the Air Corps, because of fears commercial airlines like Ryanair and Aer Lingus would poach them. However, with tourism in economic turmoil and with many airlines cutting the number of routes they operate, the continued existence of the scheme has come under question.

A lack of opportunities for lucrative jobs in the private sector allied with generous pension and other benefits available to Defence Force members has made the Air Corps a more lucrative proposition.

One source said: "Traditionally, there has been a problem with keeping pilots because the Irish Defence Forces does not exactly offer the same opportunities as other armed forces. Over the years, many of the duties like search-and-rescue have been taken away from the Air Corps and the focus has been more on things like ministerial air-transport services."

A statement from the Department of Defence confirmed €513,436.62 – before tax – had been shared among 22 pilots under the Air Corps Service Commitment Scheme.

Some pilots have earned up to €200,000 under the scheme, military sources said, having signed up for eight-year commitments to the Defence Forces.

The Department of Defence said: "The original scheme was introduced in 1997 to assist in the retention in service of senior pilots in key appointments.

"Under the current scheme, which was introduced in 2002, pilots were given the option of committing to serve for either three, five or eight years in return for an agreed annual payment and a terminal bonus.

"The gratuities available under the scheme were designed to strike a fair and reasonable balance between the demands of the external commercial environment and the need to exercise responsibility in relation to public-service pay. Such financial incentives are not uncommon in defence forces in other countries where similar difficulties have existed in retaining highly qualified and readily marketable personnel."

The Department of Defence has confirmed the bonus system is due to come to an end in 2010 and will then be subject to a review.

It said: "The needs of the Defence Forces organisation, in the context of the prevailing economic climate, will be paramount in assessing and determining whether or not the scheme is to be continued beyond 2010." Military sources said the scheme was now likely to be scrapped as the "drain" of pilots to the private sector had all but ceased.