Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As I said, everybody in the House shares the sense of grief and tragedy arising from the deaths of the Bolger brothers in the tragic fishing accident yesterday. The Deputy is correct that a tragedy such as this resonates strongly in coastal and fishing communities. I know this is a particular issue in County Donegal. Maritime search and rescue services in the south-east region are provided by a combination of Coast Guard search and boat units, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, RNLI, facilities based at Rosslare, Fethard-on-Sea, Kilmore Quay and Dunmore East and community rescue services designated as declared resources to the Irish Coast Guard. All of these services are supported by the Coast Guard and maritime helicopter services operated out of Waterford and reinforced as required by Coast Guard helicopters in Dublin, Shannon and Sligo. The upgrade of the helicopter service is ongoing. Only this week two of the replacement S-92 helicopters arrived in the country. All maritime emergency responses are co-ordinated by the three rescue co-ordination centres based at Malin, Valentia and Dublin, with the Dublin centre having specific responsibility for the south-east region. In the unfortunate event of a tragedy occurring, an investigation is conducted by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board. I am sure an investigation will take place in this case.

On the issue of small transmitters and how they can be used to assist in identifying the locations of people and contribute to safety, I understand the matter is under consideration. I will ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to respond directly to the Deputy on the current status of the recommendations. I agree with the Deputy that we need to ensure the best available safety and prevention measures are in place to protect those who go to sea, which is hazardous, particularly so in a country with many small fishing ports where the weather can change quickly. It is important that every possible resource is available to preserve and protect life at sea.

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