James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. I acknowledge his continued advocacy for north Wexford, in particular, and not just concerning coastal issues, although these are very much at the forefront of this debate, but also for the region, the constituency and the people and communities there. As the Senator did, I also acknowledge Councillor Pip Breen, who has corresponded with me on this matter as well. I know it is something close to his heart as well. As the Senator said, I do know the area well because I grew up nearby. I fished off Cahore Pier as a child and did lifesaving lessons in Courtown and Cahore. Many members of my family have used the facilities there over the years. It is an important and popular location for leisure activities and, more importantly, the kinds of search and rescue operations the Senator spoke about in his contribution, particularly the Cahore Inshore Rescue Service that provides such an important service.

This fits into the wider framework of my Department in that voluntary rescue boats, such as the Cahore Inshore Rescue Service, perform an important role in the maritime search and rescue system, thereby contributing to the safe enjoyment of our natural marine environment. The national search and rescue plan published in 2019 describes the overall national search and rescue ecosystem in Ireland and details how the different services and service providers interact with each other and what mechanisms are there to provide safe services. The Irish Coast Guard, which comes under my remit, is the principal emergency service and division. As the Senator knows, it is located within the Department of Transport. The Coast Guard is the first port of call, with responsibility for maritime search and rescue, maritime casualty and pollution prevention at sea. The Coast Guard delivers this service through its own search and rescue resources such as the four contracted helicopter bases, rescue boat teams, cliff rescue teams and shoreline search and drone teams.

I had the pleasure of visiting Kilmore Quay Coast Guard station earlier in the summer, as well as several other Coast Guard stations, including Rosslare and others gathered that day in south County Wexford. Their bases are down there. The Coast Guard service also has agreements with a certain number of operators like the RNLI. I am very familiar, for example, with the Courtown team. I know Áine Stafford from old and she is to the fore in leading that operation, along with many others there. The RNLI and the 11 voluntary community rescue boat operators, of which Cahore Inshore Rescue Service is one, are very important parts of that wider system too. They have arrangements to work together with the Coast Guard.

These operators are classed and described as declared assets to the Irish Coast Guard when they are provisioned. They declare a level of capacity and can then be directly tasked to respond to incidents. Effectively, they are delegated under Coast Guard control for certain responses and incidents, notwithstanding their commitment and the epic levels of heroism, voluntarism and determination they demonstrate. The Coast Guard recently published guidelines for the operation of such declared rescue boats. These guidelines established, for the first time, a common standard for the operation of rescue boats that may be tasked directly by the Coast Guard for maritime search and rescue such as the type we are talking about.That is a significant and important step to improve safety and co-operation across the maritime search and rescue system and recognise the key role of voluntary community rescue boats. Indeed, they all contributed to those guidelines.

It is also important to note that the statutory body with overall responsibility for voluntary community rescue boat organisations is Water Safety Ireland. Its responsibility extends to operators that may not have a formal agreement with the Coast Guard but that provide such services locally or on an ad hoc basis. As the Senator indicated, the Department administers a maintenance grant to declared voluntary rescue boat operators such as Cahore Inshore Rescue Service. This is usually in the region of €5,000 and is paid in accordance with Department of public expenditure and reform circulars. The grant is intended to support, as the Senator knows, current expenditure by those organisations.

The Senator raised a valid, legitimate and important query about capital spending for a new boat, in this instance, or for storage equipment, facilities and other situations that I am familiar with. The question is valid because the existing system is geared towards maintenance and current funding. However, the Senator and Cahore Inshore Rescue want to know about capital funding. I have engaged with the Department. I am coming to the punchline, if the Acting Chair will bear with me for a moment. The guidelines I mentioned will all boost standards in this area and help the wider system to work more efficiently. I have engaged with the Department on this, as did my predecessor. The Department is carrying out a review of the annual grant to ensure that it is sufficient to meet the level of demand and that these community rescue boats can continue to be supported in the way they need to be.