Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)

As I said, this is an important issue, particularly in a place such as Kerry that has mountains, including MacGillycuddy's Reeks and Mangerton mountain. We have a topography that no other county has, or, at least, that not many other counties have. We have the Atlantic Ocean pounding on three or four sides. We have three peninsulas, namely the Iveragh, Beara and Dingle peninsulas. We have many miles of coastline. It is grand and lovely in the summertime. We appreciate the Coast Guard all around our coasts. We have beautiful beaches where people go swimming, boating and all the other things they do as they avail of the many attractions we have in Kerry. However, people, including great swimmers and boatmen, often get into trouble. Different things happen. People come from all over the world to climb MacGillycuddy's Reeks.

If something happens we depend on the Kerry mountain search and rescue team in a big way and I do not believe they are not fully compensated for the skills and efforts they put into saving people's lives. As has been said, a price cannot be put on anyone's life. It hurts me, and I am sure the Minister of State cannot be happy with it either, when I hear that these people in air ambulances are only being paid for 16 hours when they are there for 24 hours. I certainly did not know that and I am glad it has been aired here because that is not fair. When people are waiting for the call and have to be ready to go in a minute at any moment, they should remunerated. I do not know how much the Minister of State knows about them, but he will bring the message to the Government. I do not mind which Department it is, the Minsters must put their heads together and work together to ensure these people are paid properly. They have massive skills, they put in a mighty campaign to save one or more lives and we depend on them so much in place like Kerry.

I thank all our harbourmasters in our piers and harbours all around Kerry. We have many. I have known many of the skippers of the Valentia lifeboat over the years. Paddy Gallagher was from Achill Island but he finished up on Valentia Island and was the skipper of that lifeboat. We remember the Seaflower disaster when many fine men were lost off the Beara Peninsula on the Kenmare River. It was a terrible time. I remember the Sunday morning after it happened, at mass in Kilgarvan, and everyone was huddled together because so many knew those people. A good few of them lost their lives and the Valentia lifeboat was involved then. That was when I was only a child and it has been working since under different skippers and doing so much great work. We depend on all those people.

We have to keep saying that a cost cannot be put on a life. Some innocent person might come to the MacGillycuddy's Reeks and the fog comes in or whatever and they get lost and get stuck up on benches in places sheep could not get out of. Luckily, many of them have been saved by the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team. It hurts me also to hear they have to fundraise to keep themselves together, keep their gear together, keep themselves trained, keep active and be there when they are called.

We remember the effort all the people put in in the Kenmare area when Michael Gaine was missing - we know now, sadly, that he is dead - and we appreciate all the people, including the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team. Offers came from the Abbeyfeale District Search and Rescue team and time did not matter to the people. They kept searching everywhere, down Moll's Gap and into bogholes and different places, and we appreciate all the people, even those who put in a voluntary effort. We must congratulate and thank those people too for the great help they have given at different times, aside from the Michael Gaine case. We thank them for what they did at that time. It was only the start of the year. Everyone is saying the year has flown, and it has, but we have no answers about that poor man yet and we are all hurting for that.

Again, I ask the Minister of State not to let the air ambulances down, to take the message to the Government and ensure what is being asked for here is given, and to say it was a mistake that it has been happening until now, because it has been a mistake. We have massive terrain in Kerry. We have grand scenic places and when people come and get into trouble, we depend so much on the rescue teams and the air ambulances. When people get sick or when they need to be got out of an awkward place, we depend on the air ambulance to come at short notice to take them, perhaps for heart surgery, to Dublin, Cork, Limerick or wherever it is. One thing I learned as well is that the air ambulances have to go where the wind will not challenge them as much. There was an accident in Killarney a few years ago. I was there when it happened and we thought the air ambulance would go to Cork, but it finished up that it had to go to Limerick to avail of the help of the wind from that side. We have to ensure that we have people with expertise who know what they are doing. You can train people all you like but they must do a certain amount of probing and ensuring they are doing the right thing themselves when they are out on a mission.

It is late at night. I thank Sinn Féin again for bringing forward this motion. I hope the Government is listening and will look after them. I appeal that the Kerry mountain rescue team is also properly looked after. We depend on them in Kerry to save many lives.

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