Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)

I congratulate the Minister of State on his new role. When we talk about rescue services, I wish to remember Dara Fitzpatrick, Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith from Rescue 116 who lost their lives on duty in 2017. I also wish to remember Caitríona Lucas from 2016 and the many others who have lost their lives in their service to this country.

I thank my colleagues Deputies Cullinane and McGuinness for putting the motion forward. We should not even have to do this. It is disgraceful. It is an insult to the Coast Guard services and search and rescue crews. I commend all the volunteers who are involved in the Coast Guard. Coming from a county like Mayo, we see - day and night - what those volunteers put into their communities to keep their communities and people safe. We also have the offshore islands. I know someone tonight who is travelling from Ballycroy to Inishbiggle. Who knows what is going to happen. Who does one call in that instance?

The intended purpose of the Sinn Féin motion was simple. It was to defend the safety and working conditions of our Coast Guard search and rescue crews. These brave workers are vital to counties like my own of Mayo where our coastal communities depend on them every single day and night. Many of our people work at sea. They know that when danger strikes it is these crews who answer the call. I am very disappointed. I keep finding over and over again that there is a lack of accountability from the Government on so many different things saying that it is not its responsibility, it is somebody else, somebody it has contracted to do the job. This outsourcing of everything, outsourcing of accountability and responsibility is not acceptable. Our motion is clear. It is to end the under-recording of the 24-hour shifts. It is to ensure compliance with Irish and EU working time law. It is to protect our crews from dangerous levels of fatigue. The recording of a full 24-hour shift as only 16.5 hours through a factoring scheme is inappropriate, unsafe and inconsistent with law. It inflates the number of 24-hour shifts that a worker can be asked to perform by an extra 21 shifts per year. As a result, it exposes our crews and public to unnecessary risk. Have we learned anything at all? Instead of engaging with these real concerns, the Government's amendment tonight deletes every substantive part of our motion. That is not acceptable.

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