An Air Corps search and rescue crew based temporarily at Sligo airport will be back at their base in Finner Army camp by Christmas, according to a Defence Forces spokesman.
He was responding to criticisms by the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO), that £100,000 had been spent needlessly on keeping the crew in Sligo since January.
The deputy general secretary of RACO, Comdt Adrian Ryan, said "bureaucratic bungling at its worst" was to blame for the delay in getting the crew back to Finner.
He said the pilots were also concerned that they were not able to respond as quickly to emergency situations because it took them at least 10 minutes to get from their accommodation to the airport at Strandhill, five miles from Sligo.
"In Finner they are in a purpose-built facility and there is little or no time lost in getting into the air. In the business they are in, 10 minutes can be significant - 10 minutes in the air is a lot of time," he said.
The search and rescue team was moved from Finner because of safety concerns. It was accepted that there was a need for a new fire tender and a special crew to man it.
The new fire vehicle was due to be delivered this week but it now has to be decided if the crew manning the fire tender will be drawn from the Air Corps or the Army.
The Defence Forces spokesman said it would be preferable to have it manned by soldiers from the 28th battalion based at Finner rather than transferring Air Corps personnel from Baldonnel.
He said the question of how the unit would fit into the overall structure and issues concerning pay and promotion had to be resolved. He expected talks to resume by next week or shortly afterwards and this was now "a priority".
Once these issues were agreed the positions could then be advertised and training of successful candidates would take a further six to eight weeks.
He expected the search and rescue crew to be back in Finner before Christmas.
He accepted £100,000 had been spent keeping the crew in Sligo, on hotel fees and airport costs, but said the important issue was safety and ensuring search and rescue coverage for the north-west region.