Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Last Saturday, we gathered in Cathal Brugha Barracks to remember the men of Niemba and the Niemba massacre. It is timely to remember that members of the Irish Defence Forces lose their lives, sometimes brutally, as they serve overseas. Next Sunday in St. Patrick’s Cathedral and many other cathedrals around the country, we will remember the Irish who fell in the first and second world wars. I hope to get to one or two of the ceremonies. I encourage colleagues to do so also.

Today I want to talk about Rescue 116. The initial report into the crash of Rescue 116 took four years longer than it should have. It is important in air accident investigations to get the report out quickly to learn the lessons. It is timely that the report on Rescue 116 has been issued when we are to debate in this House the next Bill on air navigation and transport. When debating it, we should take on board the fact that experts, particularly the pilots, sometimes know what they are talking about.

The outsourcing of search-and-rescue, SAR, services over the past two decades in this country has been a high-risk activity. Before the SAR contract was awarded to CHC Ireland DAC, it was clear that neither the Department of Transport or the Irish Coast Guard had the experience or expertise to assess the tenders, nor had they the ability to oversee the operation of the service once it was commenced. For example, in 2009 the Future Helicopter Study Group recommended that the next SAR contract should include night-vision technology. The contract was awarded without a requirement for night-vision technology, which resulted in the aircraft having to be retrofitted in 2013, at a cost to the Exchequer of €3.5 million before VAT. One of the points that has emerged in the report on Rescue 116 is that the lighting in the cockpit was appalling. I am no export and I have no idea what happened during the retrofitting of the lighting system but I am aware that night-vision technology requires low-level lighting in the cockpit. I understand modern helicopters have a switch to turn night-vision goggles on and off.

Following the crash of Rescue 116, the Department of Transport and the Coast Guard sought in 2017 a company to carry out the work they should have been doing, namely the overseeing of the operation. I am aware that the Cathaoirleach is about to strike the bell, but this matter is important. The company that was employed to oversee a €1 billion contract is a one-man operation. It is outrageous that this happened. If we learned from nothing else, we should have learned from that. One of the things we have got to do right now – I am begging the Leader to get this across to both the Taoiseach and the Minister for Transport – is halt the current tender process. We must not go ahead until we have learned the lessons from Rescue 116. We cannot have a company that was reckless in respect of safety-----