Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that No. 113 be taken before No. 1. No. 113 is a motion regarding the accession of Georgia to the European Union. In the times we are living in, we need to support those countries that are living under the cosh of Russia.

I join with my colleague, Senator Boyhan, in his remarks in respect of Councillor Noel Collins.May he rest in peace.

I will also remark on the settlement that was reached yesterday on behalf of the victims of the Ballymurphy murders in Belfast. While the settlement was welcome, there remains unfinished business that must be dealt with. I hope it will be dealt with and not legislated away.

Everybody in this House will have received a number of emails from me with respect to search and rescue. Yesterday's email laid out 44 safety recommendations that arose as a result of the crash of Rescue 116 in which four brave people lost their lives. Some of those involved in search and rescue have been reckless in respect of the way they have handled things such as staff complaints, staff concerns with respect to safety, etc. It absolutely baffles me that the Department of Transport and the Irish Coast Guard, which have no aviation expertise whatsoever, will tender for aviation search and rescue for the next ten years. A wonderful document was put together by the Irish Air Corps and was scrapped by a three-page document which would not stand up to the scrutiny of a national school child. That is how seriously I feel about this issue. There are 44 recommendations. Two of them deal with the lack of aviation expertise in the Irish Coast Guard and in the Department of Transport, yet we are allowing those two organisations to come together and tender for the next search and rescue service. The current operator was found to be reckless. Will that operator be one of those tendering? I sincerely hope not. We also find that some of those who were involved in the business case for the next search and rescue service are themselves attached to potential bidders. The system is rotten to the core and needs to be stopped and examined by an independent organisation that can look at who did not make it into the business case.