Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will try not to be repetitive. Much of what we want to elicit has already been addressed. I ask Ms O'Keeffe or Mr. Clonan to try to characterise for us the relationship between them, as the central edifice of the Coast Guard, and the volunteers. There are representative groupings and organisations. Will they speak for a minute to how they characterise that relationship and where it is at rather how it should be? There are issues in Doolin, which we know about them and are public. Are there issues elsewhere? What is their understanding, insofar as they have one, of the situation in Doolin and how it arrived at that position? Accusations will be made by all sides when such a critical juncture is reached. There are interpersonal and HR issues on the ground. A mechanism is, hopefully, now in place but there were previous attempts to address the problem.

There is a negative view in the region that the Coast Guard did not move quickly enough to address these issues when they were raised and did not find an appropriate solution. Notwithstanding having put in some level of mediation, it does not seem to have been adequate and appropriate. The view is held strongly in the area that, while it was an indication that the process had failed, it should not have got to the standing down of the unit or taking it off board, and that the Department should have taken more appropriate action at an earlier stage for the obvious reason that the work that the volunteers on both sides of the divide here do is highly valued. The people on all sides are highly valued. The work that they do is highly valued. They are skilled. They are trained. They give of their time for their community. We need to understand the process that the Department deployed when these issues arose first, which is quite some time ago; why the process that the Department deployed was not robust enough to resolve the issue; and if Ms O'Keeffe has any thoughts or views on how the Department might improve were that issue to arise elsewhere.

I would like Ms O'Keeffe to be more clear, if she could, following on from my colleague's questioning, as to why the decision to stand down the unit was taken. There is a recognition that 11 or 12 who are still there have skills and competencies - maybe not as extensive as what was there heretofore - that could still be deployed. Ms O'Keeffe might answer those and I will save my couple of minutes for an intervention afterwards.