Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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584. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will enact statutory instrument legislation in order that the Irish Coast Guard can become a stand-alone primary response agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2720/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​I have discussed calls to legislate for the Irish Coast Guard in the House on previous occasions.  The IRCG was established by Government Decision in 1990, initially as the Irish Marine Emergency Service, the name was later changed to the Irish Coast Guard (IRCG) in 2000, and the division was subsequently transferred from the Department of the Marine to the Department of Transport in 2006.

I am satisfied that the IRCG has sufficient powers as a division of my Department, to carry out its functions which are augmented by the various Merchant Shipping and Sea Pollution legislation which I have previously outlined in my response to PQ No. 677 on 15th November 2016.  These Government Decisions, the Irish Maritime Search and Rescue Framework and legislative provisions are aligned with the accepted provisions of international law (International Convention of the Safety of Life at Sea, International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue and the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea). This administrative and legal framework establishes the Search and Rescue function as a State function with the Irish Coast Guard designated as responsible for maritime Search and Rescue. It further defines the jurisdiction and legal authority of the Rescue Co-ordination Centres with relevant standards of the International Civlil Aviation Organisation and the International Maritime Organisation.

In light of the context set out above, it is my view that there is no need to place the IRCG on any additional statutory footing.