Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Hopkins for raising this very important Commencement matter with regard to Roscommon Sub Aqua Club and other clubs all over the country, and the great work they do. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Transport. Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross.

The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has recently been assigned responsibility for this matter under A Programme for a Partnership Government. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify the Department’s role in regard to search and rescue. The Irish Coast Guard, as a division of the Department, has the delegated responsibility for maritime search and rescue. The Irish Coast Guard provides maritime search and rescue through its three rescue co-ordination centres and dedicated search and rescue units.

These search and rescue units comprise the search and rescue helicopters and Coast Guard volunteer units. Search and rescue units are also declared to the Coast Guard from the RNLI with which the Coast Guard has a very close working relationship.

As is recommended practice worldwide, search and rescue in Ireland is built upon the rescue centres listening for and receiving distress messages and responding to, sending and co-ordinating search and rescue units to the scene of an incident. The Coast Guard uses the search and rescue helicopters, Coast Guard volunteer units and RNLI lifeboats to respond to vessels or persons in distress at sea.

The network of search and rescue units has been built up over many years and today provides a first-class response to persons and vessels in distress. The location, distribution and response services provided with these resources are kept under review, with a view to development and improvement in the delivery of search and rescue services. In addition, the Coast Guard engages and co-operates with neighbouring states as part of the global search and rescue system. The Coast Guard volunteers, search and rescue helicopters, rescue co-ordination centres and full-time Coast Guard staff are managed and funded on foot of the Department's responsibility to provide and support search and rescue services in line with Ireland’s international commitment.

Turning specifically to the matter of underwater search and rescue, I should state that due to the very recent assignment of responsibility to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport I understand there has not been an opportunity for any in-depth analysis to take place. On initial examination of the matter, it should be pointed out that to draw a comparison between underwater search and rescue and mountain rescue is not quite as simplistic as may appear.

Mountain rescue is carried out by dedicated mountain rescue teams who are declared resources to An Garda Síochána to aid in the search for missing persons, in addition to assisting those who get into difficulty on our hills and mountains. There is a systematic procedure involved for their tasking and there is no other entity in the State directly tasked with this responsibility. Mountain rescue teams are charitable organisations run by volunteers. They are in receipt of modest grants from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport which do not purport to cover all costs associated with the running of the teams.

The Department does not exercise any operational oversight over mountain rescue teams due to the fact that they are search and rescue resources and are tasked directly by An Garda Síochána. Responsibility for the recovery of bodies underwater rests with An Garda Síochána and the dedicated Garda water unit. The Garda authorities may request the assistance of Irish Naval Service divers. They may also seek the support of the Coast Guard, including the helicopter service, full-time Coast Guard staff and volunteers. The Coast Guard does not undertake diving activities. If necessary, specialist commercial diving resources may also be deployed.

These arrangements reflect the inherent risks involved in this type of activity. The Coast Guard, when acting in support of An Garda Síochána in underwater recovery, does not as a general rule, request or avail of the assistance of divers who turn up at the scene of a maritime incident as a result of media coverage. In fact, in 2016 the Coast Guard entered into an agreement with the Irish Underwater Council, the national governing body for recreational underwater sports, in order to clarify that the responsibility to manage such club divers rests with the Irish Underwater Council.

In light of the above, and specifically the recreational aspect, it is important that this matter is thoroughly analysed and researched, in particular the relationship to the health and safety diving regulations and recreational divers, with a view to investigating fully the provision of funding to entities which the Department would not generally task with undertaking search and recovery on behalf of the State.