John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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Question 226: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in view of the recent events which we saw unfolding in Union Hall, County Cork, if he will confirm the total cost which was incurred during the search and rescue mission; the number of fishermen currently registered to operate here; the steps, if any, that have been taken to make mandatory the issuing of each fisherman with a personal GPS beacon; if the costs and benefits associated with such a move have been investigated by him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10350/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The cost for the recent search and retrieval mission in Union Hall was in the region of €250,000. This cost covers helicopter flying hours, volunteer incident allowances and fuel costs and the attendance of an incident manager. The costs are estimated as not all relevant claims have been processed to date. It should be noted that about 30% of these costs would have been incurred as a matter of course as both helicopter and volunteer training would have taken place during the period involved.

In relation to the number of fishermen registered in Ireland, some 2,300 Certificates of Competency have been issued to fishermen including Skippers/Second Hand and engineers at this time by my Department.

I consider that it is prudent to await the outcome of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) investigation into the tragedy at Union Hall and I would not wish to prejudice that. However, I have asked officials from my Department to examine issues relating to the carriage of Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) by fishermen and to report to me as soon as possible on the matter. Currently all Irish registered fishing vessels are required to be fitted with Emergency Indicating Position Beacons, EPIRBs. All fishing vessels over 12m must carry an automatically activating float-free automatic EPIRB and vessels less than 12m LOA (length over all) only have to carry a manually activated EPIRB.