Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I ask the Minister to liaise with and support Galway city and county councils to ensure a base, as well as basic funding, is provided on the west side of Galway city for the Galway mountain rescue team. This, as the Minister may be aware, is a 999 emergency response service undertaken entirely by volunteers covering the Galway and Clare mountain ranges.

Galway mountain rescue is a voluntary organisation which provides a 112 or a 999 emergency response service referred by the Garda. The response service is to the upland and remote areas of counties Galway and Clare. The service is available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Galway mountain rescue is a registered charity. The team currently comprises 34 active volunteers, male and female, ranging in age from 24 to 66, travelling from Letterfrack in north west Connemara to the Burren in County Clare. Its members come from all walks of life from farming to engineering to teaching and are highly skilled selfless volunteers.

The emergency response service it provides includes casualty care, rope rescue, search management and search and rescue operations. It works with a wide range of agencies such as the Ambulance Service, the Irish Air Corps, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Garda Síochána, mountain rescue teams throughout the country, the Irish Coast Guard, Civil Defence and Coillte Ireland. It is one of 12 rescue teams in the country. I have met the team. It is an amazing life-saving service, provided entirely by selfless people who are skilled volunteers. The very least they deserve is a base for their two vehicles, a jeep and a van and a place to dry their gear and recharge their batteries and some basic funding. It is very little to ask for a 999 service.

Within the past few weeks the team was instrumental in safely locating an old man who had been lost for a number of days in the Moycullen area and his family feared for his life. More recently they were involved in the high profile three-day tragic rescue of the body of a climber in the Mweelrea mountain range. Their work is largely invisible and this in itself makes their situation problematic. Nobody sees the work they do and, as a result, they may not have as high a profile and benefit from funding in the same way, or even public funding as other groups. They are the brave ones who are out at night and day searching for life. This is our chance to rescue them and provide them with a suitable base for their basic gear.

A base to the west side of Galway city is highly desirable for easier and quicker access to the mountains. I have spoken to Ciarán Hayes of Galway City Council. Both the city and county council do not dispute the need and, in fact, are doing their best to try to locate a base. I am bringing this matter to the attention of the Minister to intervene to achieve a base, if possible prior to Christmas.

I met one of the volunteer leaders earlier this week, Mr. Jarlath Folan, who informed me that the team's current base is in the grounds of University College Hospital Galway, a base from which the team has to move. It is right that they move as there is total congestion. There are two parking spaces with no place for their gear to dry other than at the back of the van. Mr. Folan made the point, after they finished the three day search, that their gear was wet and sticky. They did not even have the proper facilities to recharge the batteries for the search lights. They take home the gear and wash it themselves. The gear would hang out and dry quite well if they had even a cabin. What struck me was the unsuitability of the current location for an emergency response team given the horrendous congestion and parking problems on the grounds of University College Hospital Galway. That is leading into a totally different Department because what is happening is not good from a health grounds position in terms of parking. Their need has been independently verified in 2012 when a team assessment was conducted by international experts who said that the lack of a base facility with sufficient space to store, inspect, dry and maintain rescue equipment and to properly house team vehicles is a serious impediment in providing a safe and efficient rescue service. A dedicated rescue base is a pressing requirement which impacts more across a range of sectors, including giving necessary assistance to visitors in Connemara and the national park and supporting an adequate wilderness emergency response generally.

This is not just a life saving service. It is a huge service to tourism. For that reason I am pleased the Minister has given his time to be present to listen to this Adjournment matter. He knows as well as I do how much the west relies on tourism. We have always learned that it is an industry that spreads its net value across the region. When walkers and climbers are coming to our country we need them to know that if they get into difficulty there is a service that can respond immediately.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter.

Mountain rescue is a 24/7 voluntary emergency support service provided by 12 mountain rescue teams located in various regions throughout the county. These teams come together as a co-operative association under an organisation called Mountain Rescue Ireland, MRI, which was founded in 1965. At the local level, each team also develops its own administrative aid operational practices as well as its own training schedule to ensure its members are appropriately skilled and equipped when needed.

The Galway Mountain Rescue team has been in existence for almost 40 years and I want to acknowledge the very important service provided by volunteer organisations such the Galway team and the eleven other mountain rescue teams around the country who operate in all weathers and conditions. The role of the mountain rescue teams has diversified greatly in recent years and are now called out to assist in a wide range of incidents and circumstances including air crash response in remote environments and animal rescue.

From a tourism perspective, we welcome the growth in a range of leisure activities, particularly those such as hillwalking which attracts the interest of increasing numbers of both Irish people and visitors of all ages. The work undertaken by mountain rescue, cave rescue and water-based organisations, makes a tangible contribution to ensuring that these visitors are safe and in supporting our bluelight services, particularly the Garda, which engages directly with mountain rescue services where there is an emergency event requiring their particular skills and local knowledge.

As a voluntary organisation and a registered charity, the MRI has developed a number of links and relationships with various Departments and agencies such as the Civil Defence, Irish Red Cross and the Order of Malta and is funded by a combination of public donations and Government grants.

As a voluntary organisation and a registered charity, MRI has developed several links and relationships with various Departments and agencies such as the Civil Defence, Irish Red Cross and the Order of Malta and is funded by a combination of public donations and Government grants. The Department of Justice and Equality holds primary responsibility for tasking the mountain rescue teams given that it is the Garda who call out these units in the event of an emergency.

My Department's sole function in respect of MRI and its constituent teams relates to an annual grant scheme overseen by the Irish Coast Guard service. This role was assigned to the Coast Guard some years back in the interests of certain administrative efficiencies. Our Coast Guard service has over 900 volunteers working in 46 units in various coastal locations around the country and I want to avail of this opportunity to pay tribute to the effort and sacrifice of all volunteers across the various organisations in this country. Without these men and women our State organisations and agencies would not be able to respond to the various emergencies and demands placed upon them daily. It is important that we recognise and acknowledge the contribution these individuals make on an unpaid basis in terms of their time and skill.

The Coast Guard chairs two meetings per year with MRI and the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation which are also attended by An Garda Síochána, the Department of Justice and Equality and the Air Corps where operational and administrative issues are raised and discussed and information is shared. In 2013, mountain rescue teams and MRI received nearly €170,000 in grant payments from my Department. The grants provide assistance primarily for current expenditure. The 2013 grant to the Galway Mountain Rescue team amounted to €7,407. Despite the growing pressure on public finances, I am pleased to say that it has been possible to retain the grant at this level over the past few years and it is the intention to do so for 2014 also. MRI, as an all-island organisation, avails of further support in Northern Ireland.

Turning to the Senator's inquiry in relation to the Galway mountain rescue team, as I have set out, the role of my Department is confined to administering the grant aid scheme with limitations on its resources and, while I am not in a position to undertake the liaison role as suggested, the Coast Guard service will in its current role as chair of the National Committee for Mountain and Cave Rescue continue to advance the principles of an ever-improving emergency response framework and operational and administrative quality enhancements in our volunteer organisations.

Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his response but I am disappointed to hear what he says. I appreciate that he acknowledges the important work done and that his Department has an administrative role but I would not have brought this matter before the Minister today if I did not think that it needed a push. I feel that the team is battling many forces which are not visible because of the nature of its work and where it is done, yet the Minister and I acknowledge the incredible service that the team provides. What role does the Minister have in monitoring whether units such as the Galway mountain rescue team are catered for in such a way as to allow them do their business effectively?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The mountain rescue team engages with the Coast Guard, which is part of my Department. To the best of my knowledge, we do not have any particular role in monitoring MRI.

Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)
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Does the Department have that role through the Coast Guard?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I do not know the answer to that question for sure but to the best of my knowledge we do not. The Coast Guard's only role is to administer this grant. I do not have a budget line or statutory responsibility for this. The budget we do have is very tight and the priority at the moment is to renovate one coast guard station a year. Unfortunately, it is not possible to take on the capital costs of MRI in addition to that.