Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)
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At 6.27 a.m. last Sunday morning, a crab boat with four crew members on board got into difficulties in Mulroy Bay in County Donegal. The coastguard units from Mulroy and Buncrana responded immediately to the boat's distress signal by heading for it to help the crew. By the time the Buncrana coastguard unit arrived at the scene of the incident, the crab boat was gone. The four crew men had luckily been saved by the Mulroy coastguard unit.

I have raised this case and given details of it because I am concerned that the area officer of the Mulroy coastguard unit was faced with a major moral dilemma on Sunday morning. He had to decide whether to try to save the four lives by launching a boat that was not commissioned by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. He was aware that to do so would not be well accepted by the Department. With the 20-20 vision of hindsight, we know all four crew members would have lost their lives if the area officer had not made the right decision, which was to launch the rescue boat. The crab boat had disappeared by the time the Buncrana unit arrived at the scene. Any sane person in a right mode of thinking will agree that four lives would have been lost if the area officer had not decided to launch the rescue boat. When the incident happened, the Mulroy unit had been waiting for six weeks to receive the training necessary to allow the rescue boat to be commissioned. I sent a fax to the Department last Wednesday to try to speed up the process.

I ask the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to acknowledge the area officer's foresight and accuracy in deciding to launch the decommissioned rescue boat. It would have been a red letter day for the Department if he had not taken that decision, because four lives would have been lost. It is as simple as that. I ask the Minister of State to try to convince the Department that the official training of the Mulroy unit's crew members should be initiated immediately, as a matter of priority. There should be no more procrastination in this regard.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator McHugh for making a strong and sensible case. I assure the House that the training he mentioned is well under way and has almost been completed.

The Mulroy coastal unit is one of 54 such units at strategic locations around the coast. The units are operated by male and female volunteers who make themselves available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to assist in marine emergencies which require their assistance. Each coastal unit has a capability and a range of equipment, including radio communications, marine rescue gear, cliff rescue gear, support boats and vehicles, which is appropriate to its location. The Mulroy unit, which is a cliff climbing and boat team, is manned by 20 volunteers and led by an area officer and deputy area officer. It received a new 7.9 m Foyle class delta rigid inflatable boat, or RIB, on 12 October last. The unit has a four-wheel drive vehicle for pulling the boat, a transit van for carrying cliff climbing equipment and an all-terrain vehicle with trailer. The originalMulroy coast guard boat suffered extensive damage during a search and rescue operation in May 2004. The boat was temporarily replaced by a smaller Searider boat from the training fleet, pending the delivery of the 7.9 m Foyle class Delta RIB.

A programme of instruction for the Mulroy team in preparation for the introduction of the new RIB has been in place for several months. That included rescue boat training in Wicklow in May 2004, followed by additional training in September and October for several members. A shore-based navigation training module is under way for the Mulroy unit at the BIM Fishery Training School in Greencastle and is expected to be completed later this week.

It is expected that final servicing and commissioning of the boat, which has been undertaken by a specialist contractor, will be completed within ten days. Immediately thereafter, Irish Coast Guard training and operations officers will conduct the final at-sea training element before the new boat is declared operational.

I am also pleased to be able to inform the House that final works to the new Mulroy station house building to accommodate the members of the unit and their new boat and vehicles are being completed in tandem with the boat training and commissioning. That work has been completed as part of the Irish Coast Guard building programme. It is anticipated that the full programme will be completed by 6 December 2004, when the new boat can be declared fully operational.

I convey my very best wishes to Mulroy coastal unit regarding its new equipment and facilities and thank the members and the local community that supports them for the invaluable service they provide. I express my personal admiration for, and my sincere appreciation of, the selfless courage shown by the entire network of coastal units and search and rescue personnel throughout the country.

Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State, whom I know to be a reasonable man, having known him for almost two years. Perhaps he might use his expertise and common sense in getting in touch with the Department to support the decision of the area officer last Sunday morning. It was a moral dilemma, and I believe that he made the right decision in taking out a boat that was not fully commissioned. Four lives were saved, and that is what matters. I would like the Minister to use his good offices to convey those sentiments — as I know he will — regarding the officer's decision.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is a very important matter and I guarantee that I will do so.