Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am a bit at a loss. What the Deputy has said leaves me unconvinced about legislating for a voluntary group. The tributes which we have all paid to the Coast Guard in the last few days have all been deserved and indicate the great respect in which it is held but the fact is the Coast Guard is working. The vast majority of the Coast Guard comprises volunteers, to whom we should all be immensely grateful. Its operation is working in a very disciplined and very effective manner. The accidents are tragedies, which I suspect remind us of the extraordinary and very effective work that the Coast Guard does. The number of rescues that the Deputy has just mentioned in her speech is phenomenal and spectacular and they are something for which we have to be grateful. I have not experienced, as Minister, the expressions of frustration to which the Deputy has referred in any meaningful way and I would need some convincing to feel that she reflects the view of the majority of people in the Coast Guard.

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