The Minister for Justice has told the Dáil it is not possible at this stage to say when the Emergency Aeromedical Service will resume from Custume Barracks, Athlone.
Alan Shatter was commenting after yesterday's incident when an Air Corps helicopter was forced to perform a 'hard landing' near Borrisoleigh, Co Tipperary.
The two Air Corps crew and one HSE paramedic onboard were uninjured and the patient who was subject to the call-out was transferred to hospital by road.
Mr Shatter said the EC 135 helicopter has been removed from the site of the incident and is now back in Baldonnel, but the extent of any damage is yet to be determined.
He said the Air Corps is examining the likelihood of resuming the EAS service as soon as possible using an AW 139 aircraft out of Baldonnel.
The Air Accident Investigation Unit is carrying out an investigation into yesterday's incident.
Eleven aeromedical missions have been undertaken from Athlone since it was launched on 4 June.
The Emergency Aeromedical Service is a separate service to the Air Ambulance Service provided by the Air Corps to the Health Service Executive for inter-hospital transfer of patients with serious injuries and for organ retrieval missions.
This service is unaffected by the incident.
