John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and the Leader for facilitating me with a chance to speak.

I thank the Minister of State for her attendance in Waterford for the official sod-turning of the €5.3 million Irish Coast Guard station in Bunmahon. There are synergies there between the old elements of the Coast Guard service, particularly Rescue 117, which was based at Waterford Airport, the South Eastern Mountain Rescue and our ground crews across all of the bases in Waterford. It is very important that we provide them with the best of equipment and facilities and obviously this new station is going to be hugely important in that respect.

When I spoke on this particular issue last January, I said that I did not share the downbeat assessment that the base in Waterford would be lost.It was unfortunate at that time, in January, that Senator Craughwell took to Twitter, stating:

I see the tender is out. Clearly, one station is not being renewed. I expect Waterford is gone.

It caused a great deal of unnecessary distress within my own community in Waterford and the entire south-east region. I put on record my thanks to the Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, and Government for moving to clear up the uncertainty that was put out there in the public domain in relation to the base at Waterford and the excellent service provided by all of crew members. The Minister of State visited Waterford Airport only prior to the summer recess where she awarded winchperson, Sarah Courtney, a bravery medal for her excellent work along with the crews based out of Waterford Airport.

I do not envy the Minister of State her job. She has a difficult task in overseeing what is a highly commercially-sensitive process. I wish the Minister of State well in that respect. Some of the points that Senator Horkan referenced, in terms of whether we are comparing apples with apples and oranges with oranges, like with like, are relevant here. No doubt the Minister of State will steer the course in this process that will ensure that the best service possible is provided to the people who need it most and that that service will be available night or day, 24/7, 365 days of the year. That is what we should not forget. While value for money, of course, is very important for the State, fundamentally what is most important here is that we have a service of excellent quality that is able to rescue people in their hour of need.

The service that is provided across the four bases currently, Sligo, Shannon, Waterford and Dublin, is second to none. I want to put on record my thanks to all of the service personnel in those bases for their excellent service. I have no doubt that they will continue that over the next number of years.