Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)

In the Fearon amalgamated report, it is stated that members of staff will not have to leave their present stations at Malin or Valentia. I put it to the Minister of State that if the report is implemented in its present lay-out, whereby there will be a station in Dublin and Shannon, with Malin and Valentia continuing as they are, over the next 15 years there will be a cost of €50 million on aggregate. This will go to paying the people and running both those stations, which will be doing nothing.

The senior manager of the British Coast Guard station, Mr. Jim Patton, has described Valentia as the finest station he has seen in the UK or Ireland. It is the fourth largest in the British Isles.

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