Mr. Francis Halligan:

The biggest impact we find is the frustration of the crews and the volunteers at stations. As and when these issues arise, we do our best to engage and work with the local authorities to get an interim or workaround solution to allow us to maintain service. Once that interim solution is put in place, we will continue to work with the local authorities and the Department of the marine to put a long-term solution in place.

Another case in point is Howth where siltation is also an issue for our D class launching at low tides from the station ramp. At low tides, we have worked our solution ourselves to put the D class on the end of our all-weather lifeboat, ALB, pontoon so as not to affect service. Again, it is about working with the local authorities to get the long-term solutions in place.