Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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11. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider the establishment of a small capital grant for mountain and sub-aqua rescue and recovery groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1835/23]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Last weekend, again, local sub-aqua clubs were out on a search and recovery mission in my constituency, Roscommon-Galway. Sadly, this is far too common. Families need closure. Without remains, they can never have that. Volunteers are going out in horrendous weather doing vital work, not only without financial assistance, but paying the operational costs out of their own pockets. It is not good enough.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is probably aware that voluntary search and rescue groups, such as those referred to by him, do not come under the aegis of the Department of Transport. However, I can confirm that the Department does provide an annual maintenance grant to support the search and rescue activities of voluntary search groups involved in mountain and cave rescue and community rescue boats. The grant, formally entitled the "coastal and inshore, mountain and cave rescue grant current", provides for grant aid to current expenditure for Mountain Rescue Ireland, MRI, mountain rescue teams and the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation, ICRO. There are ten mountain rescue teams, all of which are constituent members of MRI. They respond to requests for emergency assistance in upland and mountainous areas of Ireland. The Search and Rescue Dogs Association is also a member of MRI. ICRO is the body responsible for cave and abandoned mine rescues within the island of Ireland and works closely with MRI. The assistance of MRI and ICRO in a search and rescue task is provided at the request of An Garda Síochána. The grant also provides funding to Community Rescue Boats Ireland, CRBI, which constitutes the "coastal and inshore" part of the grant's title. CRBI is a nationwide group of independent voluntary rescue boats, which are trained and administered by Water Safety Ireland. It is a declared resource and is available to the Coast Guard to respond to emergencies in its area of responsibility. CRBI units operate entirely independently of mountain rescue units and are, in practice, a different funding stream.

The grant allocation arrangement underwent a significant review in 2019 and an increase in funding to those teams was provided on foot of this review. Voluntary search groups also receive occasional funding from other Government sources, including the Department of Rural and Community Development, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and local authorities. Water Safety Ireland implements a VAT exemption scheme applicable to independent maritime search organisations.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Department covers search and rescue and search and recovery in the offshore by the Coast Guard, on mountains and in caves and the inshore, but when it comes to the inland waterways, the Minister washes his hands of it and tells us it is someone else's problem.

The Minister of State may recall the previous Minister who was in charge of sport. He could give funding to subaqua clubs, but only for sporting activity, not for search and recovery. The reality is that the only Minister who has given any support whatsoever to subaqua clubs in this country was Noel Dempsey, who was Minister for the environment years ago, when he waived the motor tax on search and recovery vehicles at my request. Nothing else has ever been provided by the State to a service and to organisations that are providing such vital supports across this country.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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There have been grants to a number of rescue teams. I have a list of them here. I appreciate the feedback the Deputy has given. I will engage with my colleagues across the Government, perhaps the Minister for Rural and Community Development or the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport, Gaeltacht and Media, on this issue. They provide a vital community service, as Deputy Naughten has referenced. I will reflect on what he has outlined and engage with colleagues. I will also reflect on what happened previously under the Minister, Noel Dempsey.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response, which is very positive. It is the first response of its type that I have received in this House on subaqua clubs in more than 15 years. The point I make is that they provide a vital service. Sadly, every single community in this country has been impacted by suicide. People stand by the edge of a lake, canal or river waiting for the remains to be recovered. We had a tragic situation in the midlands some years ago where it took weeks for bodies to be recovered. These volunteers are doing this out of their own pocket. They are funding the cost of it, not just in terms of lost time but also the fuel going into the craft carrying out the search and recovery and we need to give them some acknowledgement. I thank the Minister of State for his response this morning.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I hear what Deputy Naughten says. When tragic circumstances occur, we have volunteers that front up and provide assistance to families. The State cannot abandon volunteers and groups. I will engage with my colleagues across the Government on this. As I referenced at the outset, some of these groups do not specifically come under the Department, but that means nothing to them; they want to know what the broader State is doing. They provide a vital service. I will engage on the issue with my colleagues, and I will also reflect on what was done to support them previously.