Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was contacted by a county man of the Acting Leader's, Councillor Paddy McQuillan, regarding sports capital grants. It is quite shocking that the bureaucracy in this country sometimes goes totally and utterly crazy. Councillor McQuillan told me that local sports clubs work hard to get capital grants but when they are presented with the paperwork to make the application, it is so complex they have to bring in people who are expert in the completion of these documents. The cost of that is 3% of the grant. We should not see any of that grant being siphoned off by anybody. Surely, it is possible for the Department, in this day and age, to put together some form of presentation that would simplify the process and assist those making these applications in order that money to a club is not lost to somebody filling in forms for it.

During the run-up to the search and rescue contract recently awarded to Bristow, I made the point that having all four bases run by one company was to place Ireland in jeopardy. For example, it is using the same helicopter and, if the AW139 or AW189 were grounded for some reason, we would have no search and rescue. If there were industrial action, we would have no search and rescue. I made the case that we should have at least one other operator and, at that time, I advocated for the Defence Forces. I read now that Bristow, the company that won the contract in Ireland, has got industrial action going on in the UK. If that happens in Ireland, and there is an all-out strike, we will have no search and rescue cover in the country. We should go back and look at that issue again.