Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There are four primary response agencies in Ireland; the fire service, the ambulance service, the Garda and the Irish Coast Guard. The Irish Coast Guard is the only primary response agency that is not legislated for in the State. The Irish Coast Guard is the fourth blue light service and it needs to be a stand-alone, legislated, primary response agency. The current system within which it operates impedes the growth and progress of the service as decisions are being made by managers in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport who have no direct involvement with the emergency service. A stand-alone legislated, primary response agency would have a chain of command structure filled by qualified and experienced coast guard personnel as is the case in the other three legislated primary response agencies within the State.

The main role of the Irish Coast Guard is to rescue people from dangerous seas, inland waters, mountains and caves, to organise immediate medical assistance and transport and to assist boats and ships within the State's jurisdiction. In any one year the Irish Coast Guard expects to handle around 2,500 maritime emergencies, assist approximately 4,500 people and save the lives of some 200 people. It will task coast guard helicopters on missions some 800 times, evacuate medical patients from the islands to hospitals on 100 occasions, assist other nations' coast guard services approximately 200 times and make nearly 6,000 maritime safety broadcasts to shipping, fishing and leisure craft users. The coast guard's role in our State cannot be underestimated. The crews of over 950 male and female volunteers are real life heroes. Currently, there are only three sector managers for the entire State. They have a combined job of managing all coastal units, which is a near impossible task. A minimum of another six sector manager positions and at least nine assistant sector manager positions need to be made available immediately in order to provide the support required and deserved by the coast guard volunteer coastal unit. In my own area in west Cork our coast guards in Goleen, Toe Head, Kinsale and Castletownbere are always ready to respond to calls, as are their colleagues throughout the State, to rescue cliff walkers, to search for missing persons or to assist in search operations, such as the infamous cocaine seizure in Dunlough Bay in west Cork in 2007.

I ask that legislation be enacted as soon as possible to protect the Coast Guard and ensure the future of the world class organisation which volunteers have worked so hard to develop. Following the enactment of legislation I ask that a budget be put in place to facilitate hiring additional sector managers and assistants. Will the Taoiseach assure us here today the Irish Coast Guard will retain all of its helicopter bases and mission co-ordination centres?

See this speech in context