Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 18 November 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Irish Coast Guard: Discussion

Photo of Kieran O'DonnellKieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms O'Keeffe, Mr. Clonan, Mr. Keogh, Mr. O'Flaherty and Mr. Ferns for attending and engaging with the committee. These committee meetings are being held on foot of volunteers making direct contact with us. We should not forget the phenomenal work they do. The five most recent tragic deaths, those of Caitríona Lucas and the crew of R116, Dara Fitzpatrick, Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith, remind us that real people's lives and families are involved. We are all working on the same team. It is not personal. We have a body of work to do. We will now follow up with the volunteers and other groups. We will be making our own recommendations. We will follow up with the Department on the extra staff it has looked for. There must be a volunteer dimension to any business case. It must not only be something that works, but something that works through a partnership model. The fact is that there are 17 Irish Coast Guard units at the moment and 900 volunteers. By definition, volunteers must be central to the operation. Many of the volunteers who are coming to us do not feel that is the case. That needs to be rectified. We, as a committee, are willing to work with the Department and the volunteers in that regard.

We wish Kieran Mulvey well in his role but Mr. Clonan would have to admit that the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the 17 trucks is scandalous. You can phrase it however you want, but this is €1.4 million of taxpayers' money spent without going through the proper public procurement processes. It never left the walls of the Irish Coast Guard. It never went to the Department. It would never have been picked up on had it not been flagged to the Comptroller and Auditor General.

There is a lot of work to be done with the Irish Coast Guard. I believe the witnesses have acknowledged that. We will have further deliberations, follow up and make our own recommendations. I thank the witnesses for today and for making the quick trip across on the bike. Even in light of Covid, meeting in person makes a great difference. We all want to reach the same ends but we need a frank exchange of views.

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