John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I thank her for her comprehensive response to the motion. I pay tribute to the men and women who serve this country with great diligence, professionalism and bravery day in and day out, 365 days a year, be they with the Air Corps or CHC, which won the contract nearly ten years ago to operate the SAR service for the country.I acknowledge the service personnel who paid the ultimate sacrifice in trying to protect and save lives, in particular the crews of Rescue 111, which crashed in dense fog off the coast of Tramore, not too far away from where I live, in 1999, resulting in the deaths of Captain Dave O'Flaherty, Captain Michael Baker, Sergeant Paddy Mooney and Corporal Niall Byrne, and Rescue 116 which was involved in the accident at Blackrock Island off the coast of County Mayo and resulted in the deaths of pilot Dara Fitzpatrick, whom I had the pleasure of meeting many times during my two terms as Mayor of Waterford when she was expertly providing the service from Waterford Airport, co-pilot Mark Duffy, winch operator, Paul Ormsby and winch man, Ciáran Smith.

Like Senator Ward, I question if it is right that we are having this debate at a time when the commercially sensitive tender process in regard to this service is about to commence. However, this debate does give us the opportunity to acknowledge the excellent work that, as stated by Senator Ward, goes on every minute of every day in this country, by our search and rescue personnel. The tender process will provide a contract which will come into play from 2022. As mentioned by the Minister of State, the current contract can continue until 2025 if necessary. The motion calls into question the adequacy of the process which is currently under way to deliver the required evidence basis for the Government decision. It calls on the Government to assign responsibility for the delivery of the new service to the Air Corps. The motion pre-empts the outcome of a process regarding the new service which has been under way for 18 months and is nearing completion and following which the tender process will commence. As politicians, we cannot interfere in a sensitive tender process. However, I would point out to the Minister of State that the bases at Dublin, Sligo, Shannon and Waterford have served this State very well. The crew operating from those bases have served the State well too. I accept that the State does not have a direct role in where those bases are located because the contract is between CHC and the individual airports, but I would ask that it be fed-in that the geographic location of those bases allow for quick response times across the entire coast and the English Channel. I refer to the New Ross area, which has suffered many tragedies down through the years in terms of shipping accidents. It is right and proper that the State would get value for money regarding the contract to provide search and rescue services. It is a significant contract, worth approximately €50 million to €60 million per annum for ten years. For that reason, we must be cautious about every word we utter in this Chamber and outside it. We cannot have a situation where a contract that is due to be awarded would be put in jeopardy or challenged by an unsuccessful contractor as a result of some of the utterances of politicians. We must be careful and respect the independent and transparent process that is under way.

I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive reply. I reiterate my thanks to all of the service personnel, past and present, who provide a world class search and rescue service for our citizens and those from foreign shores in need of their service, in particular those involved in the fishing industry. Search and rescue services in Ireland are involved in over 800 call-outs and 200 incidents per annum.It is a massive responsibility, one that I know the Minister of State takes seriously. I wish her and the officials involved in the sensitive tender process every success with it in the coming months.