Mr. Gerry Christie:

I would not think so. At present, the only paid people with whom we interface operationally are the Coast Guard helicopter crews and members of the Garda. I am making no comment here but we normally see the Garda at the end of the tarmac and that works perfectly fine. Once we go into the wilderness, we interface with the helicopter. As for which Department, to me the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport seems to be the obvious place. However, I am not fixated on who owns us. At present, we seem to dangle between many Departments. It is immaterial who owns us as long as it has an adequate budget to run the service. That is the important thing. It is not the badge; it is the bank account.