Mr. Vincent Farr:

Typically, units were furnished with a TETRA radio. The latter is a digital radio set. This is a nationwide communications system, and these radios are used by the fire service, local authorities, An Garda Síochána and the ambulance service. The Irish Coast Guard helicopter crews use it as well, and the coast radio stations at Valentia, Dublin and Malin Head have it. It is used to communicate with the helicopter crews and other emergency services. Unfortunately, the volunteers were issued one set. This set was unable to be used to communicate with other emergency services. It did not have a function that would allow the dialling of the ambulance service or An Garda Síochána. Members of those organisations could be physically on-site with volunteers, but was not possible to make a communication call to them. That is important from an information perspective regarding a casualty.

Those TETRA sets were then withdrawn and their function was eliminated from the volunteer crews. Therefore, we could not then call the crew of a Coast Guard helicopter that was coming into a helicopter landing site with a patient, who could possibly be critically ill, to provide an update to our own people regarding what to do. Yet management has that ability. A great deal of money has been spent on the TETRA radio system for volunteer crews, but they are now on shelves in cupboards and not being used. We are denied the function that management has available and that the members of all the other emergency, or blue light, services have. The constant dumbing down of our service is frustrating our volunteers. It is more administration.