James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach. I will deal with the building programme first. With regard to the figures I mentioned on the Coast Guard spend being carried over, the building programme has not moved as rapidly as we might have hoped. There has been some transition of certain projects to the OPW. They have been devolved to the OPW. There were some administrative handovers that probably delayed things. This has meant there has been an underspend. Certain facilities that were anticipated as being built or advanced in the current year have been carried over to next year. This is how the underspend has arisen with regard to facilities.

The Coast Guard helicopter contract is very exciting. I have met the team. Bristow is the new contracted provider.

I met with its leads. I was on location to take delivery of the first helicopter when it arrived at the end of the summer. I had a technical briefing on the machines and equipment and I am confident they are going to take us into the next generation of search and rescue and all things the Coast Guard needs to do. They come with a fleet of operatives, people who are highly trained in all of the different services the Coast Guard provides. They will be complementary to our existing dedicated Coast Guard team, both professional and volunteer, around the country. They are arriving. I think a number of them have already arrived and there are a few more coming into being and they will be located in various bases around the country – some are operating out of the west and others are operating out of the west and the south-west coast. Each region has a base and equipment available to it. That is a very important progression.

There has been some commentary in the media about the new helicopters and perhaps some negative commentary, which is a bit unfair. There were technical criteria for the new helicopters in terms of their ability to manoeuvre and to access mountain tops, whether they can open one or two doors on each side. I am being very simplistic about it as I am not a helicopter operator but the new helicopters can navigate coastal terrain, mountainous terrain, challenging terrain, cliffsides, choppy waters, etc. - perhaps things a larger helicopter may have difficulty doing. I refer to their accessibility to and flexibility in certain situations. There are a number of different metrics they were assessed on and I am quite confident they deliver on all of those. I should also add that the Coast Guard has invested in drones, which does not require a significant limelight on expenditure, but I mention it in terms of technology being adopted to complement need.

There are new helicopters and new drones but first and foremost I want to thank the Coast Guard corps around the country for their the professionalism, dedication and work. Since working in this Ministry, I have been continually impressed by their commitment to their work.