Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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547. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the objective criteria used to allocate funding to mountain rescue teams here; if there is a published scheme outlining these criteria; if so, the location from which it can be accessed; his plans to allocate each team a minimum of €14,815 in 2018 in view of the fact that the grants in 2008 were as high as €23,185 and gross government voted expenditure in 2018 will be broadly similar to 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5885/18]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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There is no published scheme for the Mountain Rescue grants. A key criterion for eligibility for a grant is that they are declared resources to an An Garda Siochana who are responsible for tasking the Mountain Rescue Teams. The grants are administered in line with the relevant grant circular, 13/2014.  The amount allocated to mountain rescue funding in 2018 will be broadly in line with the amount allocated in 2017. 

The administration of these grants is being reviewed by my Department and will involve consultation with key stakeholders.   A part of this review will consider the allocation of grant funding amongst teams and whether this reflects activity levels and anticipated demand. This is in recognition of the fact that patterns of activity may have altered since the original grant allocations were apportioned.