Dáil debates
Thursday, 19 January 2023
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Departmental Funding
10:10 am
Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source
The Department covers search and rescue and search and recovery in the offshore by the Coast Guard, on mountains and in caves and the inshore, but when it comes to the inland waterways, the Minister washes his hands of it and tells us it is someone else's problem.
The Minister of State may recall the previous Minister who was in charge of sport. He could give funding to subaqua clubs, but only for sporting activity, not for search and recovery. The reality is that the only Minister who has given any support whatsoever to subaqua clubs in this country was Noel Dempsey, who was Minister for the environment years ago, when he waived the motor tax on search and recovery vehicles at my request. Nothing else has ever been provided by the State to a service and to organisations that are providing such vital supports across this country.
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