Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On Monday, 12 September, a wonderful human being and a good friend of mine, Caitríona Lucas, lost her life while volunteering with the Irish Coast Guard on a search and recovery mission off the coast of Kilkee in County Clare. Caitríona lost her life in the line of duty for this State. What she was doing and what she had been doing for the previous ten years was heroic work. As with the 3,000 other Coast Guard volunteers throughout the country, she risked her life on search and rescue and search and recovery missions.

It is a tragedy for her husband, Bernard, her son, Ben, and her daughter, Emma, and I wish to express my condolences to them. I am sure every Member of the House would agree that what she was doing was heroic. She is the first member of the Coast Guard in this country to lose her life in the line of duty. It is very emotional and upsetting for the people of County Clare, particularly her neighbours and friends and those who knew and loved her. She was an absolutely amazing human being and completely dedicated to her family, neighbours and community.

She was involved in many aspects of her community. Her day job was as a librarian - educating and teaching children and getting them active.She embraced rescue and recovery and spent much time training and developing new techniques to enable the people who visited County Clare and the surrounding areas to enjoy our natural beauty in a safe way and to ensure that if they found themselves in trouble, the best possible expertise was there to help them out.

I propose that, before the Leader sums up on the Order of Business, the House observe a minute's silence in memory of a courageous and wonderful human being. At a later date, perhaps we could have a debate on the work the 3,000 volunteers of the Irish Coast Guard do. The Coast Guard is our fourth emergency responder after the Garda, ambulance and fire service. In memory of Caitriona Lucas, and the wonderful work she did and the fact that she laid down her life in the service of the State, we must consider giving the Coast Guard the same parity of esteem as the other emergency services.