Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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450. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason 24-hour search and rescue services are not operational from Shannon Airport; the steps that can be taken to rectify this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19901/25]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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My overarching priority is the safe and effective transition of the aviation contract without interruption to service. The two contracted operators, CHCI and BIL are contractually obliged to provide sufficient capacity, expertise and resources to maintain safe search and rescue operations on a 24/7 basis across all areas of the country throughout this process. As has been proven with the CHCI contract the operation of four bases provides a resilience for service delivery so that when individual bases become temporarily unavailable, the workload is shared amongst the other bases and the specific requirements for each mission being assessed as they arise. In the case of both contracts, availability of any base can range from full availability, to partial availability, to temporary unavailability.

Shannon was the first base to transition from CHCI to Bristow and I can confirm that 24/7 services are being provided from Shannon.

I also welcome a recent agreement reached by CHC Ireland and Bristow Ireland Limited on an updated timeline for the transition for the other three Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue (SAR) Helicopter bases at Dublin, Sligo, and Waterford. This ensures the delivery of my overarching requirement for a safe and effective transition without interruption to services.