Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise a serious matter that occurred at the weekend. There were probably similar issues at other popular beaches around the country. First, I thank Ben Bennett, Mike Paige, Aaron McGettigan, Ollie O'Flaherty and Richard Brangwyn. They put their lives at risk to save over 40 people yesterday at a beach in Lahinch. There were zero lifeguards on duty. We knew last weekend was going to be sunny and that thousands would flock to the beaches. This is our second summer in lockdown so we should have figured this out by now. People deserve to be outside. They have been told to go outside and the country has been told to take a staycation, and I have been promoting that. We should not be shocked at the number of people outside on the streets or at the beaches. We knew this was coming.

I am wondering what the solution is. The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, and several Departments have given millions to local authorities for bins, outdoor seating, extra amenities and creating spaces, but I do not see that happening on the ground. I do not know what the problem is. There were no lifeguards on duty yesterday in Lahinch, although it was packed with thousands of people. There were two-year-olds missing and one guy nearly had a heart attack. The five men I mentioned are all surfers and they did this voluntarily. They could not leave the beach because they were afraid people would die. They were putting people on their surf boards and bringing them in from the water. I know we cannot predict our weather, but we can predict if it is going to be sunny. I booked a trip to the Aran Islands a week ago because we were told last weekend was due to be sunny. We will have to be more creative and quicker off the mark. The climate has changed and our weather patterns are more unpredictable, but this is our second outdoor summer and we have not nailed it. We have failed.

I wonder if it is necessary to have a meeting with all the chief executive officers, CEOs, of the local authorities to find out what the problem is. It is not fair to ordinary civilians and surfers that they would be afraid to leave the beach in case somebody drowns if they are not there to keep an eye on them. It is a serious issue and it is ongoing. We cannot wait until somebody dies to realise it is serious.