Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not laying any blame whatever.

I turn to the Coast Guard representatives. I have a damning list of what has being going on in the service. In 2014, there was an accident at Inch. The Marine Casualty Investigation Board, MCIB, report was not produced. With regard to the Kilkee tragedy, people in Kilkee tell me they were warning that there was a likelihood of a fatality because Coast Guard management would not listen to them. Regarding the crash of Rescue 116, the personal locator beacons apparently did not work when the crew went into the water. That was in 2017.

I return to Ms O'Keeffe for a moment. I am trying to understand why the Exchequer paid a private company €7.5 million to retrofit the cockpits of their helicopters and buy night-vision goggles that are still in the possession of the Coast Guard? Why is that training is not completed today almost eight years later?

Returning to the Coast Guard, in 2020, there was a judgement against Ireland because the MCIB did not conform with the independence requirement. I refer to scrutiny again. There was a failure of oversight. Captain Steve Clinch wrote a review. That report has not been published. The Comptroller and Auditor General produced two reports that were absolutely damning. Mr. Clonan said that his trainees come in as probationers and are trained to a standard.

How is that standard certified? Who certifies it? What agency certifies it?

With respect to the allegations of bullying and harassment, Mr. Clonan stated that the organisation has the Coast Guard code. He said the Coast Guard has engaged with the GAA on the drafting of that code with respect to volunteers. Did the Coast Guard engage with the volunteers? Did it bring volunteers together and run that code by them?

As for dispute resolution, where there is a dispute, full-time members of the Coast Guard have access to legal services. Do volunteers have access to legal services, and does Mr. Clonan know if they can avail of the Workplace Relations Commission when it comes to a dispute?

Going back to my colleague's questions about the CUAG, the CUAG is not a representative group. I come from a trade union background. If you want a representative group, that representative group has to be something like the ICGVRA, which has now come together and which will be recognised by a trade union or employee representative body. Whether Mr. Clonan likes it or not, sooner or later the Coast Guard will have to engage with that group. I understand that Mr. Clonan has always been willing to engage with volunteers. My question to him is who is stopping him from engaging with that group. If it approaches him as a representative group, will he, as the acting director of the Coast Guard, engage and negotiate with it and try to resolve the issues that exist?

Going back to Ms O'Keeffe, why is Mr. Clonan still acting director? Why has he not been appointed to a permanent post in the organisation?

I deeply respect the work the Coast Guard does but it needs to engage with volunteers. One clear example of it not doing so is outlined in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the purchase of vehicles. It is clear from that report that there was no engagement with volunteers, and that is simply not good enough. Volunteers, as Mr. Clonan well knows, have to feel they are part of the family and feel they have a voice. I believe that a lot of what we are looking at today is as a result of a lack of a voice. It should be remembered - and I ask Mr. Clonan to pass this on to his people - that bullying and harassment are offences against the person, and at some stage somebody will take an action against his organisation. He is only one man. He is here in the hot seat today and I feel somewhat for him, but he has answered the questions put to him well and defended his organisation. I would like him to get out on the ground and fix the problems that are there. I believe he is committed to doing that and I would like him to do it urgently. If there is something impeding that, from his point of view, he should come back to the committee and we will work on it.