Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)

I thank and commend Deputies Cullinane and McGuinness for bringing forward this motion. I represent a coastal community. We deeply appreciate the work of the search and rescue services.

We do not like to see them coming but we are very glad there are there.

Years and years ago, when I was a shop steward, back when I used to work for a living, I went on a health and safety course. The tutor was Norman Croke and the first thing he said to us when he was teaching us about health and safety in the workplace was that health and safety were everybody's business. He told us never to imagine for a moment that they were someone else's responsibility. Health and safety are everybody's business. They are the responsibility of every person. This was true then, many years ago, and it is true today. This is why it is simply incomprehensible that the Minister would try to claim the health, safety and welfare of the men and women of the search and rescue service are somehow outside of his remit. It is fairly shameful and the Minister of State should withdraw the amendment and listen to the search and rescue personnel.

I engaged with the lads who work out of Dublin Airport as they were doing the transition over to Bristow Ireland. I visited them. I know they made their concerns known. I know they had concerns. They are used to working shifts. If you are a shift worker, you are already likely to have a lower life expectancy. Your sleep is disturbed and it interrupts your family life. Doing shift work has a massive impact. Imagine then to be told that for a significant chunk of that shift, when you are required to be alert and ready to go into some of the most dangerous situations imaginable, it is not considered work. Jesus, it is not rest - it is most definitely not rest. As Deputy Conor D. McGuinness pointed out, this has been through all of the sophisticated industrial relations mechanisms that the Government loves to refer to. It has been through all of them. When you are expected to be on call in this way, your time is not your own. You are definitely not resting. You are working and it should be recognised as such. They are on 24-hour shifts and they should have every hour and every minute of those shifts recognised and acknowledged.

I hope that in the script the Minister of State is going to read out he has a very detailed explanation as to why the European working time directive should not apply to this vital group of workers. I do not have a crystal ball but I am fairly certain he will pay tribute to them and tell us all how much he values them. Really, his actions will tell us how much he values them. Recognising every hour and every minute that they work would tell us that he values them but his fine words will not come to anything if he does not withdraw the amendment and accept that these men and women are working for the 24 hours of the shift.

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