Mr. John O'Mahony:

Morale in the Coast Guard is at an all-time low. Many units are at half-strength or less. Even within those units, the number turning up for call-outs and training may be even lower. I will explain one of the reasons for that.

When a dispute happens, one member of the team may be targeted. Whether that is legitimate or not, privacy and confidentiality then come into play in any dealings between Irish Coast Guard management and the volunteer concerned. He or she is not allowed to share information with other team members. The members of the team then become distant from each other. The team can often split. No local resolution is allowed anymore. We have done this for many years. We have almost 100 years of service between us and for many years we were involved in bringing teams together. Under the current management, that is not encouraged now or even allowed. Disputes are taken out of the local team and dealt with as grievance complaints or volunteers are being put on trial. From then on, volunteers have no right to any external assistance. It is only possible for another volunteer to sit in with them as a witness. The State can throw the full-----