Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

County Donegal is home to one of the busiest yet remote coastlines in the island of Ireland. We have a fishing industry, offshore workers, island communities and thousands of people who rely on Coast Guard SAR crews every year. When a boat gets into trouble off the 1,134 km of our coastline, or when a medical emergency occurs on Tory Island or Árainn Mhór, these crews are the ones that respond. They are the ones who step into the issues in the worst conditions imaginable so that others can come home safely.

This motion, with a focus on SAR helicopter services, is really important. I commend my colleague Deputy Cullinane for bringing it forward. The motion is about protecting those who protect us. I am disappointed the Government has tabled an amendment that blatantly shirks responsibility. It is not true to say that this is solely a matter for the Irish Aviation Authority. Government is ultimately responsible for ensuring a functioning Coast Guard and that workers are kept safe as possible. Our motion is needed urgently because the rules being applied to search and rescue crews are not only wrong but unsafe. New IAA approvals would increase the number of allowable 24-hour shifts in a year by 25%. This will reduce the number of hours recorded on a 24-hour shift from 18 to 16.5 under the new factoring calculations.

Experienced front-line workers, sometimes at great expense as some are currently facing disciplinary proceedings, have raised the alarm. They are telling us plainly that this increases risk. It is already a dangerous profession, so we need to listen to them. They are very concerned that it is unsafe to increase the number of 24-hour shifts in this way.

This proposal would allow for 21 more 24-hour shifts a year per worker. In County Donegal, we know how hard the Coast Guard and search and rescue crews work to protect us. It is wrong to record their 24-hour shifts as just 16.5 hours. These shifts are served on deployment or on a base where crews must always be ready to go at a moment's notice. It is essentially pretending that hours spent on deployment-ready duty somehow do not count as working time and are somehow rest time. Search and rescue crews must be fully deployable within seconds for lifesaving missions. These are crews that always have to be prepared for high-risk lifesaving missions. We know the reality of what these crews face when the call comes through; they must launch. There is no such thing as rest time for them during a shift when they can be airborne within minutes. Therefore, the Government must make sure that this practice ends, that rostering does not break Irish and EU working time rules, and that work hours are recorded properly to protect the crews and the communities they serve. If a crew works 24 hours, 24 hours must be reported, not 16.5 hours or some other artificially discounted figure. That is the law under the EU directive, and it is the basic requirement for an honest system of fatigue management.

This motion is about protecting crews, protecting the public, and ensuring that our search and rescue service remains safe and sustainable and is legally compliant. That is why the Minister of State needs to intervene. He must ensure that this practice ends. He must ensure that rostering does not break Irish and EU law and our staff have proper recognition. I am particularly conscious of many people in my own community, where the Coast Guard works with huge dedication in terms of sea rescue. We need to see a situation like that of the retained firefighters, who have recognition of their association. This means that when people who have given a lifetime of service are dealing with disciplinary issues, they have a trade union to represent them. That is not the situation at the minute. They need to be recognised as an association so they can represent coastal units and Coast Guard members across the State. The Government should ensure this happens without delay.

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