Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is one point I forgot to make. The response from the Coast Guard management is withering in its ferocity. Its 19 pages contain comments such as "idle gossip", "lazy reasoning" and "hearsay". Fisher Associates claims that the IRCG lacks a strategic sense of direction and purpose, which is insulting to all the full-time staff and volunteers involved in the service. To state it lacks direction because of the director's absence is not correct. It is not based on evidence. At a minimum it is insulting and based on malicious hearsay and, at worst, it is defamatory. The review lacks sufficient intelligent analysis, which means that most of the findings will not stand up to scrutiny and questions over the competency of Fisher Associates.

Incredibly and somewhat insultingly, Fisher Associates also does not even appear to know how to spell the name throughout the report, using the Commonwealth, possibly indicating that a lot of cutting and pasting from other sources and reports were used throughout the review.

I thank the Acting Chairman for his patience. As Oireachtas committees go, I have to say that the evidence given by some of the witnesses here today is shocking and the answers are incomplete in their substance. The Department has been badly let down. The behaviour and mindset indicates that they are on the same agenda the Department has had in the past. Their display here today has been incompetent. Answers have been fudged and statements they made themselves have been ignored. They have tried to say afterwards that they said something else. I am glad every word that has been said here today has been recorded because at least we will be able to go back over what has been said to see that the departmental witnesses have contradicted themselves on more than one occasion.

If anyone tuned into this meeting today, they would not know if it was an Oireachtas meeting or an episode of "Yes, Minister". I am disappointed with the responses that have been made to genuine questions. We are here today with one objective, which is to fight to retain the Coast Guard service we have in Valentia and Malin Head. We wish to do so because we believe it is for the protection of people's lives in the years ahead. We believe the Department's agenda is wrong, including the centralisation to Dublin. It happened to us when people in Departments advised and ensured in the 1960s that the train service to Cahirciveen and Kenmare was closed.

This is the exact same situation 50 years on with the same mindset facing us again. If it fails this time, it will be tried again. Why are we discussing this today when it was dealt with several years ago and the officials were proved wrong in what they were trying to do then? They are back again now with their agenda. I am disappointed Mr. Mullen has let himself and his Department down with the incompetent responses he gave today to genuine questions.