Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

It is hard to believe we are here dealing with this issue.

Sometimes, when a issue comes to a politician it shows the abject failure across the board. In many instances we are talking about individual cases where the State has failed. We are talking about the Coast Guard search and rescue. Ask anybody on the street what that means and they will say it is people who go above and beyond, who are risking everything. We know what happened with the serious loss of Rescue 116. We lost Dara Fitzpatrick, Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith. That is the reality of the danger that these crews face every day of the week.

I thank Deputies McGuinness and Cullinane in particular for bringing forward this motion. I will follow up on what Deputy Cullinane said. There is a necessity that we have the Minister in front of the transport committee in relation to this to provide answers, not some sort of cop-out that he has no role in regulatory oversight. The buck stops with him, simple as that. The Irish Aviation Authority also needs to be in front of the committee, as does Bristow Ireland which has come up with these wondrous shift changes.

What are we talking about? On the recording of 24-hour shifts, that is 24-hour continuous duty periods. As many have said before, this is not in a person's house. This is people being accommodated because they are at work. They need to be ready to launch at any time. We know the danger we are talking about in relation to what we require these people to do. There is not doubt that there is an issue in relation to the European working time directive and the fact that these people are being absolutely hammered in relation to basic workers' rights that have been won across the board. As Deputy O'Reilly said, we have an industrial relations framework that the Government constantly argues is there to facilitate this. I have no doubt that Deputy Joanna Byrne is correct that the Government facilitated this and allowed it to happen because it is a very small cohort of workers, but one that does spectacular work that we and the State need them to do. Government loves having things at a remove, be it the local authority that can be blamed, be it the HSE, be it the Irish Aviation Authority or be it Bristow Ireland. However, the fact is that the Government is responsible. It is responsible for contracts and it is responsible to the people for ensuring we look after the safety of those who need to be rescued in terrible circumstances that we all wish could be avoided and those who put their lives at risk daily. We would expect that when they do that for us and the State, we could at least have their backs. I request that there be an element of accountability. I imagine we are far too late in this case and the decision has been made. However, I ask that the disgraceful amendment the Government has put forward be removed and that we have a real conversation about an issue these search and rescue crews are very worried about. It is a disgrace. We need to see action straight away. I think it is the first time I have said this in the House but I do not have words.

I will finish by thanking those in the Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service and Dundalk Sub Aqua Search and Rescue, whose members step in at times for necessary rescue operations and necessary work that needs to be done when somebody is missing, sometimes because the State is not there to do it. We have a wonderful service in the Coast Guard search and rescue that is necessary and we are not looking after them. It is an abject failure of the Minister and Government. We need to see some real action and real accountability. This is a demand we will not be walking away from.

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