Keith Swanick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also congratulate the Youthreach programme on its 30th anniversary and Ms Sabrina McEntee, who is the Cavan co-ordinator. I was glad that Ms McEntee was a member of my task force on loneliness. She played an important role in that regard.

Today, I would like to highlight the Life Saving Equipment Bill 2017 which I drafted. This Bill passed Second Stage in this House in January 2018. It is vital legislation, which proposes to introduce specific penalties, including hefty fines and custodial sentences, for those who engage in this reckless, careless and thuggish behaviour of destroying lifebuoys and defibrillators around the country. I remind the House that this is not the same as defacing a park bench, pulling a bin off a pole or using graffiti. Destroying defibrillators and lifebuoys directly leads to unnecessary deaths and the penalties need to reflect this. We also need to bear in mind that many of these defibrillators are put in place through volunteerism in communities and they are not State funded. Volunteers in GAA clubs and community groups put defibrillators in place in their towns and at their GAA and soccer pitches and sports facilities. We heard last year of a young boy in Athlone who drowned sadly in the River Shannon. When his friends attempted to save him and went to the nearest lifebuoy station, there was no lifebuoy there. Recently, the Leader will be interested to hear, the Cork Evening Echoreported that 20 lifebuoys alone go missing every week in Cork city at a cost of €50 per lifebuoy. That is a significant financial burden, but what is the human burden associated with this? I would also like the Leader to know that Cork city missing persons search and rescue unit supports this legislation.

Finally, in advance of the second anniversary of the tragic loss of R116 which went down at Blackrock on 14 March, I pay tribute to our lost heroes - Paul Ormsby, Ciarán Smith, Dara Fitzpatrick, Mark Duffy. I look forward to the publication of the air accident investigation report, which I understand is imminent. This may give a certain amount of closure to the families and to all those affected, including the community, as a whole, in the Erris region, where the sense of volunteerism was unbelievable at that time. I have spoken about it previously.