Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, for coming to the House. As she comes from a coastal county, as I do, she is appreciative of the work of the Coast Guard right around the country. From seeing it in action, I know the work of the Courtown-Arklow Coast Guard. The Coast Guard group based in Courtown Harbour is unusual in that it actually covers parts of two counties. It covers the area from Brittas Bay in County Wicklow down as far as Cahore, so it is a large area of sea. There is a crew of about 22 who are male and female. They have given good service to our community over a long period of time. The challenge is the Coast Guard building in which they are operating. It is a small rocket house type building that was constructed during the 1920s. It is a single room with no toilet or welfare facilities.

As I said it is a mixed, male and female, crew. They all have to change within the one facility. You will appreciate the difficulty, particularly if they have gone out on a mission at sea and have come back in wet, tired and, in many cases, they must bring some of their equipment and so on back home. They have no toilet so they have to use the public toilet facilities in Courtown Harbour which are a little bit away from where the rocket house is located.

This has been a long-running issue around trying to get new facilities for the Coast Guard. As I am sure the Minister of State is aware from her Department, efforts were made with Wexford County Council and potential county council sites were identified. Some of the sites were found to be unsuitable while in regard to other sites, the council decided to make use of them itself. Recently, a potential private site was identified by the Coast Guard to the Office of Public Works, OPW.

I am raising this as a Commencement matter today, and this reflects my frustration and that of the Coast Guard locally, because, in spite of several efforts to get answers around progress from the OPW as to where this is at, we have not been able to find out. We have much sea-based activity going on and the north Wexford area is rapidly growing in terms of population. Significant numbers of people come into our community for holiday purposes and, unfortunately, that means occasionally we see incidents at sea. The Coast Guard is essential in keeping all of us safe in our waters.

I ask that this be regarded as a matter of urgency. If the Minister of State has good news for me today, I will be very grateful but at the very least, we would appreciate an update.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Byrne for raising this issue. As he knows, the Department of Transport is responsible for the Irish Coast Guard building programme, essentially aimed at ensuring Coast Guard units along the coast are fit for purpose. The programme is managed through the Office of Public Works from planning and design to build and ongoing maintenance, with legal assistance as necessary from the Chief State Solicitor's Office. The programme is funded from the Department of Transport Vote. Medium-sized build projects of more than €750,000 are managed by OPW property management section and are overseen by an OPW senior architect. Smaller upgrading and renovation projects are managed by the OPW property management section. Day-to-day maintenance contracts are organised and managed by the OPW and funded by the Department. The Chief State Solicitor's Office guides and assists the IRCG with its building regularisation programme.

The capital envelope in Project 2040 includes increased funding for the IRCG towards the building and renovation costs of Coast Guard stations throughout the country, replacement and upgrade of search and rescue related equipment in the units and in the rescue centres, development of new IT systems to assist Coast Guard operations to deliver its service more effectively and efficiently, and the procurement of pollution prevention and other equipment relating to the Coast Guard remit.This capital envelope has gradually increased over recent years from €5 million in 2018 to €8 million in 2022 and should cater for additional one-off capital investments in coastguard stations around the country, commencing with Greystones and Westport.

Some of the existing buildings called rocket houses, as the Senator has alluded to, date back to the 19th century and do not provide the necessary accommodation to house 24-7 response units. The Senator has outlined that point clearly today. Therefore, the new builds are urgently required in terms of health and safety issues. Some of the factors that are taken into account include: the suitability of existing stations for modernisation and enlargement; the availability of suitable State-owned land for a new build; the legal and planning issues involved in developing brownfield or greenfield sites in high-visibility coastal amenity locations; the urgency of the works required in terms of health and safety or other issues; and the funds available to the Department each year. The OPW is currently working on building projects in Greystones and Westport, with both projects due to start construction this year. Planning permission has also been granted for Bonmahon, which will soon progress to construction phase. Other projects that have commenced include Castlefreke, which is in the planning phase, and Kilmore Quay and Cleggan, which are both at preplanning stage. Subject to planning permission, these projects could be advanced to construction stage. The reason the Senator is raising the matter today is the Courtown Coast Guard station, which is currently on the Irish Coast Guard building programme priority list. Wexford County Council had originally identified a suitable site for the proposed station in the Courtown Harbour area. Unfortunately, it is no longer in a position to offer this site to the Irish Coast Guard as it has a major economic stimulus project planned for the harbour area. It has offered to work with the Irish Coast Guard and the OPW to help identify alternative sites, some of which have been recently identified. Six possible sites have now been identified as suitable for a new station for Courtown Coast Guard. The OPW has commenced preliminary investigative work on these potential sites and will update us as these investigations progress. I am happy to come back to the Seanad to update the Senator in relation to the investigative works by the OPW.

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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That is some good news for Senator Malcolm Byrne.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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It is but at the same time, this has been a really long process. For the crew that is operating there, it is about looking for basic facilities that the rest of us would take for granted. It is particularly the case because these people are going out and saving lives. I invite the Minister of State to visit Courtown Harbour and to inspect the facilities. The Minister of State said the station is on the priority list. However, there is always the question of how long the list is and how long it is going to take. I have been engaging with the Coast Guard for a decade in this campaign to get the update. We have not seen much progress. We will see progress when we see the site purchased or handed over and the OPW going in to work. There is only so much investigation that can be done over a decade. I ask that the matter is given priority this year and that we at least get a start date for construction on whatever site is finally agreed.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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It has been prioritised as a coastguard station, and one of the stations that is in most need of new facilities. It is on the building programme priority list. The Irish Coast Guard and the OPW are fully committed to providing a unit with a fully functioning coastguard station in that area. The OPW has already commenced the preliminary investigative works in respect of the six possible sites that have been identified for the new coastguard station. As I said, I am happy to come back to the House and update the Senator. We will keep in touch in relation to progress because I am aware that the facilities are needed and required. It is on the priority list. Let us work together to ensure that adequate progress is made.