Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)

I thank Deputies Cullinane and McGuinness for bringing forward this motion. In 2024, the Coast Guard and rescue service responded to 2,554 incidents and 752 missions by helicopter. It provided critical assistance to 537 citizens and 134 air ambulance flights to offshore island communities, including some off the Wexford coast. I am sure this year's statistics when completed will tell a similar story. The Minister of State will agree that the search and rescue crews, first and foremost, must be protected by safe and fair working conditions. On examination, this does not seem to be the case. The under-recording of 24-hour shifts under new rules are being recorded as 16 and a half hours through what is known as a factoring mechanism. The aviation safety experts and unions have deemed the use of this method to measure working hours as not fully compliant with safety standards relating to EU law and the working time law and increases the risk of fatigue. Fatigue in these high intense and often chaotic, hazardous circumstances could cause crew members' concentrations to drop, affect their reaction time and distort decision-making capabilities. This is why we in Sinn Féin are calling for variable recording of actual working hours, adherence to Irish and EU law, including a fair rostering programme and rest standards, and introducing independent audits. The Minister must hold the IAA to account and recognise that the IAA's approval of systems that allows reduced log hours is creating a serious risk element of fatigue in our search and rescue crews and must be addressed. These men and woman endanger their own lives to save ours. Please support our search and rescue crews across the country by supporting this motion and by withdrawing the Government's amendment.

See this speech in context