Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There has been an awful lot of coverage on this already, some of which I have watched and there are obviously some particular issues. Doolin has been referred to by many members from Clare, including Deputy Cathal Crowe, Senator Dooley and Deputy Carey. When I look at the whole situation, a lot of the issues have been touched on. Is there any organisation in the State such as this whereby there are only 82 full-time staff to 900 volunteers? It seems to be a ratio that I am not aware of anywhere else. Many of us are in political parties where volunteers are volunteers. They do an amazing job but it is a voluntary role. They are presumably working in other jobs. Perhaps some of them are retired or whatever. Is it an organisation that can continue to have such a ratio of only 82 full-time people versus 900 volunteers? Is it fit for purpose going into the 21st century, with all the issues it is facing? I note the organisation has a pollution response service, which I did not know about. It responds to maritime casualties and has a search and rescue service. It seems to be getting involved in on-land search and rescue as well as coastal activities. Is this the best way forward?