Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I look forward to the reply with the specific data I seek as I am only working on anecdotal information at this stage. From my information, between 2001 and 2007 more than 111 rescue missions in Lough Foyle were carried out by Malin Head rescue centre. Within that figure there were a number of joint operations between the rescue centres in Clyde in Scotland, Belfast and Malin Head. These joint operations used each other's intelligence in a collaborative way and have been going on for many years. I have singled out Lough Foyle because it is unique on the island as we have a joint jurisdiction under the auspices of the Loughs Agency. The two jurisdictions have worked together to manage the fishing operations in Lough Foyle.

The issue I wish to raise is of the utmost importance. Before North-South joint operations and connectivity, and cross-Border co-operation, when the Rev. Dr. Ian Paisley was leading the charge against working in a collaborative way, we had unique relationships regarding marine safety on this island. There were operations involving services based in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Malin Head at a time when such collaboration did not appear to exist. However, there has been a unique understanding, interrelationship and interdependence between services based in three jurisdictions, namely, Malin Head, Clyde and Northern Ireland.

I have a number of questions for the Minister of State though I accept he will not have a reply for me tonight. What consultation has gone on between our Department of Transport, which has responsibility for the marine, and the Northern Administration regarding the proposed closure of the station at Malin Head? What consultation has taken place between the Loughs Agency and the Department of Transport regarding the proposed closure of that station? What consultation has taken place at the North-South Ministerial Council, which proposes that there should be North-South co-operation on aquaculture and marine issues? These are the questions that need to be answered. What consultation has taken place between the Scottish Administration and our Minister regarding the proposed closure of the station at Malin Head? I ask this because there have been ongoing rescue missions involving the Scottish service based in Clyde and the service in Malin Head. Has the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body been consulted by the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, regarding this issue? If it has, why have I not been consulted as a member of that body? If it has not been consulted, the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body must be asked whether the Scottish Administration has been consulted regarding the proposed closure of the station at Malin Head?

Regarding proposed new funding avenues through INTERREG, what consultation regarding the proposed closure of the station at Malin Head has taken place between the Department and the Scottish agencies that were seeking transnational links between Northern Ireland and this jurisdiction? An area of interest to you, a Cheann Comhairle, is Valentia and the southern channel. What consultations have taken place with French authorities regarding the proposed closure of the station at Valentia?

There are so many questions regarding the intrinsic relationships and linkages of the existing infrastructure in Valentia and Malin Head that have not been answered. The rigid tool of the administrative stroke of a pen is being used to close a station at Malin Head, taking away all the good work and capacity building that has gone on over the years between three jurisdictions.

This decision goes against our constitutional rights because we bought into the Good Friday Agreement and into integrated strategies for the marine and aquaculture. We are removing existing infrastructure, interrelationships and interdependence, North and South. We are making a serious mistake. What external consultation has taken place outside the Department of Transport regarding these issues? These are important issues that need to be clarified.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I call on the Minister of State to respond and she has five minutes. I know there is considerable detail in the response because the Deputy sought details. The statistical information can be handed by the Minister of State to the Editor of Debates for inclusion in the Official Report. There will not be a necessity for the Minister of State to read all the statistics although they may be provided to the Deputy in that way or through a letter. If they must be included on the record, it is possible to do that as well.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I would be happy with an overall number rather than needing to go into it in depth.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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For the purposes of the Deputy's submission and for the purposes of the record, it is possible to put the statistical information on the record. That is what I am saying if that is helpful to the Deputy.

Máire Hoctor (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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I will respect the five minutes and I am sure the Deputy will also be happy to receive these statistics. We will see how the script actually goes.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this subject on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Dempsey. The organisation responsible for marine emergency management in the Irish search and rescue region is the Irish Coast Guard, which is under the remit of the Department of Transport. Prior to 2001 both Malin Head and Valentia were commercial coast radio stations whose principal responsibility was to carry out ship-to-shore links to shipping, issue weather forecasts and navigational warnings, and log fishing reports. From 2001, the co-ordination of search and rescue services for the north and north-west coast was delegated to Malin Head from the marine rescue co-ordination centre in Dublin. Prior to 2001 emergencies occurring in the north and west regions had been co-ordinated from the marine rescue co-ordination centre in Dublin since the early 1990s, and before that from the marine rescue co-ordination centres in Shannon and Haulbowline.

There may be some confusion between the work done in co-ordination centres and that undertaken by local volunteers. The location of a co-ordination centre and local knowledge are not entirely linked as the principal element of local knowledge comes from the local coast guard coastal units and lifeboat crews strategically positioned around our coast. Their local knowledge of tides, currents, bays and local historical incident locations is invaluable to the watch officers of the Irish Coast Guard. The volunteers in the Lough Foyle area are the RNLI at Portrush and Lough Swilly, and the Irish Coast Guard unit at Greencastle. This unit is both a cliff and boat rescue unit, and is one of the most advanced teams in the country.

I would like to put on record again my appreciation and that of the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, for the selfless voluntary efforts of the Irish Coast Guard, RNLI and community rescue boat crews in rescuing those in trouble off our coasts, cliffs and offshore islands. We are also indebted to a wide range of organisations, both public and private, that make their facilities available to the Irish Coast Guard on a 24-hour basis or which have operational or liaison agreements with the coast guard.

Lough Foyle divides the search and rescue regions of the Irish Coast Guard of the Department of Transport and the Northern Ireland Coastguard. Half of the lough lies in the Irish search and rescue region and half in the UK region. It has long been the practice, however, that search and rescue knows no borders, only boundaries. There is close co-operation between the Irish Coast Guard and the Northern Ireland Coastguard across the Lough Foyle boundary. Search and rescue helicopters at both Dublin and Sligo support search and rescue operations in Northern Ireland. This assistance is managed through the Irish Coast Guard co-ordination centres at Dublin and Malin Head. The helicopters are contracted to be airborne within 15 minutes between 7.30 a.m. and 9 p.m. and within 45 minutes between 9 p.m. and 7.30 a.m. Irish Coast Guard search and rescue helicopters add to the ongoing co-operation through the provision of training, and search and rescue assistance to Northern Ireland-based RNLI lifeboats and mountain rescue teams.

Much of the current search and rescue already takes place on an all-Ireland basis. The organisation of mountain and cave rescue, RNLI, Commissioners of Irish Lights and Waterways Ireland are set up on that basis. Irish Coast Guard teams regularly exercise with their Northern Ireland counterparts in the Border area. The Irish and UK coastguard services continue to discuss procedures to harmonise search and rescue techniques north and south of the Border. There is work in progress by Ireland on the extension of the Irish search and rescue region to coincide with the Irish pollution region and European economic zone. Work has begun as part of a UK-Irish memorandum of understanding and this element will require agreement between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Irish Marine Emergency Service was established and named by a Government decision in 1991. In 2000, it became the Irish Coast Guard which better denotes the service provided. Detailed records have been compiled of all marine incidents following the establishment of the Irish Marine Emergency Service. Records from earlier years are in long-term storage. Records available show a detailed breakdown of incidents by type across the three co-ordination centres at Malin Head, Valentia and Dublin, but they do not provide a breakdown by specific location.

For the purpose of this debate and within the short timeframe available for compiling the information, Malin Head records since it became a search and rescue co-ordination centre in 2001 have been examined and the following information can be made available. It refers to incidents in Lough Foyle and several of these involved joint operations with the Belfast coastguard. The latter has advised the Irish Coast Guard that it had eight incidents in Lough Foyle in 2007.

The number of incidents recorded for the following years are as follows: ten incidents in 2001, 13 in 2002, 23 in 2003, 15 in 2004, four in 2005, nine in 2006 and eight in 2007. As my time has elapsed, I will make the information available to the Deputy in hard copy form if he is prepared to accept it in that format.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

Details of the incidents that were dealt with by the marine rescue sub-centre at Malin Head are as follows:

On 1/01/2001 a sighting of an upturned hull off Moville Light was reported.

On 10/02/2001 a flare report in Lough Foyle.

On 07/04/2001 three flares were reported off Greencastle.

On 24/05/2001 a speed boat was reported adrift off Greencastle with four people on board.

On 07/07/2001 the FV Day Dream was reported drifting without power at Redcastle.

On 15/08/2001 a sick crewman taken ashore from the fishing vessel Castle Queen.

On 17/08/2001 report of a log at mouth of lough with possible danger to navigation for small boats.

On 07/09/2001 the Éireann Sea was reported aground on sandbank off Redcastle.

On 25/09/2001 a small boat was reported dragging anchor off Greencastle.

On 09/12/2001 assistance to gardaí in search of a missing person in Moville Bay.

On 26/01/2002 a report of a dredger causing danger to fishing vessel Girl Nicola.

On 28/01/2002 report of an old fishing vessel Sans Peur broke moorings and drifting.

On 03/02/2002 request for assistance to police in Northern Ireland with search of missing person at the mouth of the River Foyle.

On 14/05/2002 report of a yacht Morning Glory going aground south of Moville.

On 09/06/2002 report of yacht Jade broken from moorings and drifting.

On 13/06/2002 report of an oil slick off Carrickarory pier.

On 23/06/2002 report of fishing vessel Random Harvest — water in engine room at Greencastle.

On 08/07/2002 nets in propeller of fishing vessel Bangor Crest, towed to Greencastle

On 15/08/2002 report received of ferry Greencastle/Magilligan with a lost forward ramp with danger of taking water.

On 13/09/2002 fibreglass boat was reported adrift off Greencastle.

On 14/09/2002 a broken down speed boat was reported requiring a tow.

On 30/09/2002 a 24 ft. fishing vessel with a rope around propeller required tow.

On 31/12/2002 assistance requested for UK coastguard with search of Donegal shoreline for missing anglers.

On 22/02/2003 car reported stuck on beach.

On 13/04/2003 jet ski adrift and towed ashore.

On 19/04/2003 an overturned yacht in water was reported and two persons were recovered.

On 22/04/2003 two large floating objects required towing ashore.

On 07/05/2003 yacht Firecracker was reported broken free, towed to Greencastle.

On 11/05/2003 four barrels floating reported as a danger to small craft were taken ashore off Warrenpoint.

On 11/06/2003 a mussel dredger sank off Ture Light.

On 15/06/2003 the yacht Ryvoran reported aground near Tuns Buoy.• On 16/06/2003 a small inflatable reported adrift off Greencastle.

On 18/06/2003 fishing vessel Seacraft reported broken down off Warrenpoint Light.

On 18/06/2003 the cruiser Fair Maid broke moorings and reported drifting off Moville.

On 19/06/2003 fishing vessel Helen Mary reported broken down and drifting off Benowen Strand.

On 06/07/2003 a small fishing vessel reported adrift off Moville.

On 06/07/2003 the yacht Niamh reported aground off Redcastle.

On 10/07/2003 dinghy reported capsized off Moville.

On 11/07/2003 the yacht Streaker reported adrift off Greencastle.

On 26/07/2003 a speed boat reported broken down and drifting.

On 27/07/2003 the Swiller Warrior was reported taking water off Moville.

On 25/08/2003 request to assist gardaí in shoreline search for missing persons.

On 31/08/2003 the Foyle Venture reported aground at Magilligan.

On 26/10/2003 report of a glider down near Greencastle.

On 01/11/2003 red flare report in Greencastle area.

On 09/11/2003 fishing vessel Spiritual Vessel reported going on rocks near Moville.

On 18/01/2004 three persons in difficulty in a rowing boat at Lisahally.

On 10/02/2004 report of red flares.

On 28/03/2004 report of a dive boat broken down, requires tow.

On 04/05/2004 persons reported in the water off Culmore Point.

On 16/05/2004 report of the yacht Saratoga aground on sandbank.

On 28/05/2004 report of the yacht Mucmara aground off Moville.

On 28/05/2004 Foyle Venture ferry reported loss of engine power.

On 14/06/2004 MV Topgallant reported an injured crewman.

On 10/07/2004 the yacht Cruisen reported aground at McKinneys Light.

On 26/08/2004 the yacht Astral reported aground at Saltpans.

On 26/08/2004 the yacht lolar na Mara reported adrift off Moville.

On 26/08/2004 the fishing vessel Celtic Dawn reported taking water alongside Moville pier.

On 13/09/2004 a 20 ft. yacht reported aground Moville.

On 30/09/2004 request to assist ambulance control with missing person outside Greencastle.

On 18/10/2004 report of warhead on Redcastle beach.

On 02/05/2005 windsurfer reported in difficulty off Magilligan.

On 10/07/2005 report of boat aground off Redcastle.

On 21/07/2005 report of Bayliner vessel aground Lough Foyle.

On 21/07/2005 the cruiser Uptown Girl reported aground in Lough Foyle.

On 16/07/2006 yacht Nokomis reported aground near Greencastle harbour.

On 23/07/2006 person in water in River Foyle near Craigavon bridge. UK coastguard requested assistance.

On 20/10/2006 report of a red flare off Greencastle.

On 10/08/2006 report of canoe capsized, three persons in water near Greencastle.

On 16/08/2006 fishing vessel Eliz Christine reported engine failure requiring tow off Moville.

On 22/08/2006 report of a red flare off Magilligan point.

On 08/09/2006 the fishing vessel Eliz Christine, broken down requiring a tow.

On 05/10/2006 an overturned canoe reported floating off shore.

On 20/10/2006 report of a red flare off pier Greencastle.

On 18/01/2007 the fishing vessel Giolla Na Mara EPIRB detected.

On 18/05/2007 the yacht Aquilla reported aground off Moville.

On 26/05/2007 Bay Cruiser reported broken down off Magilligan point requiring a tow.

On 01/08/2007 a report of a boat, details unknown, broken down at mouth of Lough Foyle requiring a tow.

On 25/07/2007 the dinghy Laura reported semi submerged off Whitecastle.

On 02/08/2007 report of three flares in Lough Foyle.

On 24/08/2007 report of a small punt in the approaches to Lough Foyle.

On 26/09/2007 report of a sick person on boat in Lough Foyle.

I pay tribute to all the women and men who have worked for and with our marine emergency services on call 24 hours a day. It is truly no mean commitment to give of their time and be brave and selfless enough to carry out sea and coastal rescues.