I want bring to the witnesses' attention the following note on privilege. Witnesses giving evidence from within the parliamentary precincts of Leinster House are protected by absolute privilege in respect of the evidence they give to the committee. This means that witnesses have a full defence in any defamation action for anything said at a committee meeting. However, they are expected not to abuse that privilege and may be directed to cease giving evidence on any issue at the Chair's direction. Witnesses should follow the direction of the Chair in this regard. They are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that, as is reasonable, no adverse commentary should be made against an identifiable third person or entity. Privilege against defamation does not apply to publication by witnesses outside the proceedings held by the committee of any matters arising from the proceedings.

As I always do, I advise members of the constitutional requirement that they be physically present within the confines of the Leinster House complex in order to participate in public meetings. I will not permit a member to participate where they are not adhering to this constitutional requirement. Therefore, a member who attempts to participate from outside the precincts will be asked to leave the meeting. I ask any members partaking on Microsoft Teams that, prior to making their contribution to the meeting, they confirm they are on the grounds of the Leinster House campus.

Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable, or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, it their statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable third person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks and it is imperative that they comply with any such direction.

Today's meeting will consider coastal search and rescue, an issue that is very important to the costal communities that we all represent and to the fisheries and maritime affairs sectors. We have four distinct groups of witnesses. Representing the Department of Transport and the Irish Coast Guard, we have Ms Joanna Cullen, assistant secretary general of the Irish Coast Guard; Mr. Micheál O'Toole, director of the Irish Coast Guard; and Mr. Liam Keogh, principal officer of the Irish Coast Guard's aviation contract division. Representing the RNLI are Mr. Gareth Morrison, head of water safety; and Ms Niamh Stephenson, regional communications lead. Representing Water Safety Ireland and Community Rescue Boats Ireland, we have Ms Clare McGrath, chair of Water Safety Ireland; Dr. Joanne Walsh, CEO of Water Safety Ireland; Mr. Roger Sweeney, deputy CEO of Water Safety Ireland; and Captain Shane Begley, operations manager with the Bantry Inshore Search and Rescue Boats Association. Representing Oranmore Maree Coastal Search Unit, we have Mr. Cillian Morris, chairperson; Mr. Sean Greene, director; and Mr. Sean Harte, director.

We have a large number of witnesses. I will give each organisation or group of witnesses two minutes to give a summary of their opening statements. We will then move to questions and answers in seven-minute slots. Members will have seven minutes to put questions and to get answers. I ask members to direct their questions, as appropriate, to the specific witnesses from whom they want a response. Members are in charge of their own seven-minute slots. They can interject if they feel that the reply is going on a bit and they want to direct a question to somebody else or want to get to the nub of an issue. I ask everyone to be aware of that.

We will go through the two-minute summaries in the order I read out the organisations.

I thank the members of the committee for the invitation to speak today about the work of the Irish Coast Guard and its significance in the context of sea and cliff rescue. I am here in my capacity as assistant secretary general of the Irish Coast Guard and am joined by my colleagues, Mr. Micheál O'Toole, director of the Irish Coast Guard, and Mr. Liam Keogh, principal officer in the aviation contracts division.

The Irish Coast Guard, IRCG, is a divisional pillar of the Department of Transport and is responsible for maritime search and rescue, SAR, under the national SAR plan. It also has statutory responsibility for marine casualty and pollution response. In a broader context, under the framework for major emergency management, the IRCG is identified as one of the State's principal emergency services, along with An Garda Síochána, the national fire service and National Ambulance Service. As such, the IRCG is a member of the emergency response structures at a regional and national level.

Last year, the IRCG responded to 2,793 incidents, including maritime emergencies, cliff and coast rescues, assisting with missing person searches, medical evacuations across our island communities and other multi-agency operations. We operate on a 24-7 basis, with three rescue co-ordination centres at Malin, Valentia and Dublin, and across 44 volunteer coastal units, supported by our SAR aviation services and working in partnership with our peer emergency service agencies and declared voluntary services.

The IRCG has evolved significantly in recent years and continues to drive improvement through a programme of transformation in keeping our commitments under the programme for Government.

The fishing industry in Ireland is a vital economic sector that generates significant income and employment, particularly in coastal communities. Ireland’s fishers operate in some of the most challenging maritime environments in Europe. The Irish Coast Guard recognises the unique challenges and risks faced by the fishing sector and recognises the critical importance of our role in supporting safety and providing world-class emergency response to the fishermen and women.

I thank the Chair and members of the committee for the kind invitation to attend. I am joined by my colleague, Ms Niamh Stephenson, the RNLI communications lead. At our previous appearance, Ms Anna Classon, our head of region, was present. Unfortunately, she is off work. Therefore, I will respond on her behalf.

There is no doubt that the nature of lifesaving at sea has changed profoundly in recent years, and the demand for search and rescue is increasing. The RNLI must continue to evolve and adapt its service and ensure we have the most appropriate lifeboats and lifesaving assets to fulfil the purpose of saving lives at sea, keep our own people safe and remain sustainable into the future.

Interestingly, however, the patterns are changing. Some 98% of our launches are now less than 10 miles offshore, 1.8% are between 10 and 25 miles offshore and just 0.2% are more than 25 miles offshore. This is interesting, and it is informing our strategy. To frame that, the RNLI aided over 1,000 people last year and launched on-service on the island of Ireland 383 times. Our strategy is to continue to modernise our fleet with a gradual exit of some older lifeboats and the introduction of a new coastal lifeboat.

We are incredibly grateful for our relationships with other colleagues in the room, namely, the Irish Coast Guard, Water Safety Ireland and others. That relationship is built on mutual respect and understanding. While the focus is often on rescue, the RNLI also has a strong interest in prevention. We share the goals of our colleagues in Water Safety Ireland to prevent drowning by being a highly effective influencer and catalyst for water safety globally, nationally and locally.

Finally, I would like to pay testament to every single RNLI volunteer on this island and thank them for enabling us to realise our vision to save every one.

I wish members of the committee and invited guests a good morning. I thank them inviting Water Safety Ireland here today. I am here with my colleagues, Ms Clare McGrath, chair of Water Safety Ireland, Mr. Roger Sweeney, deputy CEO of Water Safety Ireland, and Captain Shane Begley, operations manager with Bantry Inshore Search and Rescue Boats Association.

Water Safety Ireland is a statutory voluntary body and registered charity established to promote water safety and reduce drownings in Ireland. Our focus is on public awareness and education. We strive to change attitudes and behaviours so that our aquatic environments can be enjoyed with confidence and safety. We deliver our legislative mandate through education, promotion and partnerships.

Community Rescue Boats Ireland, CRBI, represents a nationwide network of independent voluntary rescue services that support water-based search and rescue operations across Ireland. These teams have traditionally been set up by local communities following drowning tragedies and in response to water safety needs in their localities. Eleven of these CRBIs are categorised as declared resources by the Irish Coast Guard, allowing them to be tasked to incidents via the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre on a 24-7 365-days-per-year basis. In relation to CRBIs, currently, under Article 4(1)(f) of the Water Safety Ireland (Establishment) Order 2019, Water Safety Ireland’s remit includes to provide "instruction, training, assessment, and certification in aquatic rescue for [community rescue] boat crews." Water Safety Ireland also serves as the certifying body for the VAT refund scheme for rescue boat services under SI 249 of 2013.

Last year, Water Safety Ireland proudly marked 80 years of leadership in water safety, prevention and lifesaving training and education nationwide. In recent years, the organisation has undergone a significant transformation, including the appointment of a new CEO, a new chair and a new council. During this time, our team has continued to grow and evolve to better support communities across the country and deliver Water Safety Ireland’s priorities.

I thank the Chairman, members of the committee and invited guests for the opportunity to speak today. I am joined by my colleagues, Mr. Cillian Morris and Mr. Sean Harte.

Oranmore Maree Coastal Search Unit, or OMCSU, is a 100% voluntary organisation established in 2016 in response to the increasing number of people who enter the waters of Galway Bay and other inland waterways in the vicinity. We are registered both as a company limited by guarantee and as a charity. The main objectives of our unit are: to carry out the business of search, rescue and recovery on both land and water; to provide leaders to co-ordinate and lead searches and to assist the statutory and other voluntary organisations in the rescue or recovery of casualties; to provide pastoral care to the family and friends of casualties; and to provide a base from which to co-ordinate searches and the provision of refreshments and support for the searchers.

Those who benefit from our unit are the families, friends and communities of casualties and the other statutory and voluntary organisations that require our assistance. Our core purpose is simple. When someone goes missing, we co-ordinate and conduct search operations by land, sea or air. We are one of the very few organisations in Ireland who request support from members of the public on these searches, allowing us to cover vast geographical coastal areas in a co-ordinated fashion. Many searches extend well beyond the resources and time available to the statutory agencies but, thankfully, we have the resources to continue these searches. We cover approximately 150 km of Galway Bay shoreline, from Carraroe in Connemara right around to Blackhead in County Clare. The coastline has been divided into 46 land zones, each approximately 3 km long, with the Bay itself divided into 73 sea zones. Our unit currently has up to 70 zone leaders, 20 boat crew, four drone operators and approximately 15 base volunteers along with pastoral care volunteers who are critically important to support the family of the missing casualties throughout the search period.

Our equipment includes a 7.8 m rib, which is on loan from a private individual, a 3.1-m Whaly boat, two Yamaha jet skis, two drones and four support vehicles. We normally co-ordinate searches from the Galway Bay Sailing Club in Renville or other community locations around the bay. We want to acknowledge the generosity and ongoing support of all the communities.

We work very closely with An Garda Síochána, which generally requests our assistance after the initial 24 hours of an incident when the focus generally moves from rescue to recovery. We also work in partnership with the Irish Coast Guard, Civil Defence, fire services and the RNLI, as well as several other voluntary organisations. After each day of searching, a detailed report is provided to An Garda Síochána. We are grateful for its continued support.

Since our establishment in 2016, we have been tasked to search for more than 30 people who entered the waters of Galway Bay, the River Corrib, the River Clare or off the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare.

I will stop Mr. Greene at that point, and we will go to the questions and answers. I am sure there will be some questions that will allow Mr. Greene to give more information on his operation. I thank him very much for that. I will ask members to indicate if they wish to put some questions. I will take them in order in that case.

I welcome the delegations and teams from each organisation. I will say at the outset that my career in the marine goes back a very long time. It goes back to the 1970s when I was working in the industry, to 1981 and then 1987 when I was first appointed Minister of State at the Department of the Marine. I have a long association, whether it is with the RNLI, Oranmore Maree Coastal Search Unit, which is a microcosm of all of the others around the coast, or Water Safety Ireland.

Today is a day for us, as members, to learn precisely what the organisations are doing. Far too often, we take people who are volunteers for granted, and this is something we should not do. Maybe sometime we will get an opportunity to visit. We might be in Galway at a later date, and we can visit people like those in the Oranmore Maree Coastal Search Unit. It is a co-ordination centre. I have been at too many search and rescue operations where the centre is the centre for marine casualties.

It has been a place where none of us want to be, but it is important to have such a location to assist the RNLI. We are missing Anna Classon today. Something important must be on given that she is not here. Like Mr. Morrison, Ms Stephenson and others, she does a tremendous job. I have a special place in my heart for the RNLI. I think I am the only Irish minister, when I was in the Department of transport, who travelled to Poole, England, to thank the RNLI for what it was doing. It surprised me at the time to learn about the contribution the Irish Exchequer was making in comparison with the expenditure, whether it be capital or current. I mentioned previously that I hope we will have an opportunity sometime to visit not just the RNLI but all the centres around the country to familiarise ourselves even more with it. Others want to have the opportunity to contribute, but today is the day to thank the witnesses and those who are not here, the people they represent, for their exceptional work. Last year, there were 2,700 emergencies. Every one of those is important. We might think some were not, but every one of them was important, with the three bases in Malin, Valentia and Dublin.

This question is for the Department of Transport or those who are representing it. Is there any truth in the rumour that the base in Sligo might be moved to an area offshore in the west of Ireland? I was working after the untimely death some years ago of the young John Oglesby, who was killed aboard his fishing boat off the west coast. That resulted in search and rescue. Eamon Doherty, the former Garda Commissioner, who was retired at the tim, headed that up and came back to us with recommendations for where the helicopters should be based. It has worked extremely well. They were there at much shorter notice than they would be if coming from Dublin. That could be just a rumour - I do not know - but if it is and if anybody knows anything about it, they could perhaps kill it off.

I am happy to confirm that there is no truth to that rumour. The base in Sligo has transitioned to the new contract, as has the base in Shannon. All four have now transitioned to the new Bristow contract. We fully expect them to continue to be the four bases that will serve the contract for its duration for the next ten to 13 years.

Would any of the voluntary bodies like to respond to Deputy Gallagher's remarks?

On behalf of the RNLI, I thank the Deputy for his support. It is great to be here to talk about the good work we are doing. The RNLI receives phenomenal support from the State, from the public and from the Government itself. We are grateful for that, as are the partners we work with. Saving lives at sea and search and rescue cannot be done alone. A partnership approach is critical both to stop an incident happening and to ensure we get the best possible outcome for rescue. I thank the Deputy for his comments. We will continue to work in this fashion.

I thank everybody for their presentations. As my party colleague Deputy Gallagher has said, the service they provide is like the fire brigade or the ambulance service. We do not think about it much until we need it. I have friends who have availed of the services. I know a young family who were in serious trouble only for the services available at that time. I thank the witnesses for the work they do. I watched with interest the RNLI advertisement. It is excellent. It is an advertisement asking people to remember the RNLI in their wills. It is fantastic to see the names being put on the boats. It creates great interest, and it is well done and well thought out. I wish them all the best.

I return to the issue raised by Deputy Gallagher, about Strandhill. I am from Sligo myself and I represent County Sligo. We have a fantastic facility in Sligo. I know that everything is falling into place with Bristow, and I have no doubt everything will work well, but there was a rumour that the medical mission service side of things may be moving to a greenfield site in Tuam. That has been mentioned and talked about quite a lot in our part of the world. It is great to get clarity that it is only a rumour and that is not going to happen. I thank the witnesses for their presentations.

I thank the Deputy for the question. I will pass to my colleague Mr. Keogh, who manages the aviation contract division and this contract.

I reiterate the assurance provided by the assistant secretary. There are no plans to move the Coast Guard search and rescue base out of Sligo Airport for the foreseeable future. The current contract will run for the next ten to 13 years. Indeed, Sligo SAR base is the busiest of the four bases and is important for the Coast Guard. I am sure the director would agree. It serves the island communities as well in the context of medevacs and hospital transfers. It does important work, and we do that with great pride. There is no truth in the rumour. from the Department of Transport's perspective, of any change to the status of the SAR base at Sligo Airport.

That is great to hear. We have a state-of-the-art facility there at the moment and it is great to know there will not be any change to it. I welcome that information.

We must all thank the witnesses for the job they do. It is really wonderful. We saw it in operation in Killybegs a couple of months ago. All the jobs their volunteers do have to be highly commended. A large number of them were doing the shoreline search and searching out at sea. It means a lot to a family when they have lost loved ones. The way the organisations managed it meant that, thankfully, it worked out well in the end. They have to be proud of their volunteers. My place at home is right beside the Coast Guard. We are next-door neighbours. I also have great friends in the RNLI. I see the practice that goes on there every Wednesday night. Volunteers roll up at 6 o'clock or half-past six and are in there for two or three hours doing their training for no reward. They just go out to try to save lives. They get no credit for what they do but what they do is brilliant. There were rumours of the helicopter being moved. We were all worried about that. I thank the Coast Guard for the helicopter. It saves lives on medical transfers. The witnesses might hear me shouting about an air ambulance for Donegal. Thanks to the Coast Guard and the Air Corps, there are so many transports to hospitals in Dublin every year. It means a lot to the families, especially in Donegal, that we have such a service. On their behalf, I thank them because we needed an ambulance before and we could not get it. I know what it is like when you need a helicopter, and nine times out of ten the Coast Guard turns out, so I thank the witnesses.

My first question is for Dr. Walsh from Water Safety Ireland. I know the figures are coming down every year. I go to schools and listen to children. They have no access. Take Killybegs, for example. If we want to use a swimming pool, either we have to go to Ballyshannon or if we are lucky, we might get into Donegal town. There are vast areas where there are no pools. Is there anything we can do about that on a temporary basis?

I thank all members for their contributions. The most important thing is to prevent deaths. Let us not forget that is why we are all here today. Every month, ten people in Ireland die from water-related drowning. Behind every data point is a name and a devastated family and community. That is what we are really here for. The whole thing is about prevention. We want to prevent pressures on the emergency services. Prevention is key. The vast majority of rescue incidents stem from predictable risk factors. That might be poor hazard awareness, people overestimating their ability or underestimating risk, a lack of planning or unfamiliarity with local conditions.

As part of this prevention agenda, Water Safety Ireland delivers water safety programmes to schools, as the Senator has mentioned, and to communities. We do this through our water safety area committees. There is a large one up in Donegal. We deliver programmes to schools, including the primary aquatics water safety, PAWS, programme. We recognise the importance of teaching water safety to children early. This prevents risky behaviours and risky decisions as people progress through their lives. Last year, we delivered almost 60,000 PAWS water safety certificates to national school children. In line with this, Water Safety Ireland recognises the importance of prevention. We have expanded our education team from two members to six members. We now have four regional educational officers who go into primary schools. Our water safety programme is on the primary school curriculum. We also have a secondary school curriculum, our WISE and Get WISE programmes. Our Water Safety Ireland education officers go into schools to teach teenagers, who are at risk of displaying the risky behaviour we are concerned about. We also have a Hold Hands programme for those aged three to five. Our education officers now go into early learning centres to teach water safety at a very young age. We also provide training for adults in life saving, open water safety, rescue techniques and instructor development. All of this is about trying to reduce the number of preventable call-outs.

We also run a national awareness campaign. As I have mentioned, we promote simple but critical actions in respect of high-risk behaviours and high-risk periods. These including checking water and tide conditions, never swimming alone, swimming with a friend, wearing a personal flotation device whether angling or engaging in water activities and carrying appropriate communication devices. These are all simple behavioural changes but they can significantly reduce the number of incidents and reduce the pressure on emergency services. One of our acronyms is SAFE, stay away from edges. Some 65% of accidental drownings in Ireland involve people engaged in non-water-based activities. These are people who never had any intention of going swimming or bathing. They fall in from an edge. They might be out walking, hiking, cycling or foraging. Prevention is the most effective rescue strategy.

To answer the Senator's question about pools, we know there is pressure as regards the availability of pools. The Department of sport and Swim Ireland have a national swimming strategy. One of the themes they are looking at is access to pools. Water Safety Ireland has access to pools in our communities but we also use a lot of open-water facilities. During the summer, a lot of our Water Safety Week activities are run in open-water facilities.

I thank Dr. Walsh. I will be quick because I am running out of time. I have a question for the RNLI. What is the biggest operational pressure facing the institute?

I thank the Senator for his comments. As has been mentioned, the pattern of those getting into difficulty is changing. It is not as much about the offshore area any more but about the close inshore areas. For that reason, we are developing a new form of coastal lifeboat to respond to incidents of that close inshore nature. In summary, many incidents now start on the shore and occur in the water as opposed to far out to sea. That is a way of framing it in our minds.

I have a couple of questions myself and I might put them at this juncture. As has already been done here, I commend the volunteers in all of the witnesses' respective organisations on the work they do. It takes selflessness and courage to go out to sea to save lives. It takes discipline to do the training week on week, to complete certifications and to get comfortable with the gear, the vessels and all of that. It is crucial to coastal communities that both the statutory and voluntary safety nets are there. I come from Waterford, where we have community rescue boats, RNLI stations and the Coast Guard air search and rescue base at Waterford Airport. Indeed, we also have a Coast Guard centre in Bunmahon, County Waterford. We have a proud maritime tradition and we depend very heavily on the life-saving efforts of the various bodies.

I have a question for the RNLI and the community lifeboat representatives. How important is being able to work with partners including the Department of Transport, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and local authorities to make sure the organisations have the equipment, access and space they need to undertake their work? In the case of the RNLI, I am particularly thinking of the base at Helvick, which is only a few kilometres from my own home, and the need to dredge the harbour to make it passable at low tide. I am also thinking of the community rescue board in Bunmahon, County Waterford, which has to get from Bunmahon and down the very narrow and hilly descent to the nearby harbour at Boatstrand to get to sea to save lives. How important are those relationships? Do the witnesses have any message for those partners? The representative of the community rescue boats might answer first, followed by the RNLI.

I work with Bantry search and rescue. The key to everything is the training you do with other organisations. Community Rescue Boats Ireland has 11 declared resources in Ireland. As a declared resource, you train regularly with the likes of the Coast Guard and the RNLI. From my own point of view, we in Bantry train at Castletownbere. As a community rescue boat, the overriding thing is that you do not have big economic backing for the resources you are trying to deliver or create. That is the major problem we have. We obviously do the training we have to do to be a declared resource but the overriding factor is the economics of it. If you look at Bunmahon, Derrynane and even Bantry, we all have challenges that need to be addressed. For example, our boat was built in 2006 and refurbished in 2013. We have plans for a new boat but that boat is going to cost €450,000. It costs €22,000 to €25,000 a year to run the service. We get a grant of €5,000. The rest of it comes from the local community, who are absolutely fantastic. The problem is that the 11 declared resources are going back to the same well every year looking for the same money.

Will the RNLI address the issues of access, equipment and space?

Partnership is key, as I have already mentioned. It is important to think of this in three phases: afloat, ashore and community. They are three very strong partnership poles to which we really need to work together. It has to be about working together. We would ask that, in any future developments, wherever they may be, thought be given to the downstream impacts they may have. The RNLI and our colleagues should be brought in at a very early stage. It is easier to get it right from day one rather than having to rework things further down the line. We are very grateful for the support we receive from many different partners in those afloat, ashore and community spaces.

I also echo the comment that this is about saving lives and preventing lives being lost. That partnership approach can also extend inland. The RNLI is very grateful to the GAA, which gives us huge exposure through its digital media channels and Croke Park, allowing us to share our safety message with an audience who may not necessarily see themselves as being at risk. That is key. Those who do not believe they are at risk are those who are the greatest risk. Anything we can do together to reduce fatalities is important.

I have a separate question for the Coast Guard. It will come as no surprise that it relates to the air search and rescue service, particularly in Waterford but across the State. It is excellent that the service is still in Waterford. A number of years ago, there was a question as to whether it would make its way into the tender documentation but it did in the end. Everybody in the south east and along the south coast welcomes that inclusion and is very happy to see it operating out of Waterford Airport.

That said, an issue that has cropped up in recent months with the changeover of the contract is around the factoring of hours for air search and rescue personnel, the risk to safety due to fatigue, and the very real prospect, as has been said at the transport committee by trade unions representing aircrew, that this might end up in the Workplace Relations Commission. What role does the Department of Transport and the Coast Guard management have in regard to that? I understand there is a commercial operator there but what role does the Department have in remedying that?

I might introduce the matter and then hand over to my colleague Mr. Micheál O'Toole, director of the Coast Guard, for some further perspective. Primarily, we represent the Minister as the contracting authority. As the Cathaoirleach said, we have transitioned from the previous contract, which was operated by CHC, to this new contract. The transition concluded on 1 February with the go-live of the Waterford base, and there has certainly been some discussion around the use of factoring. From our perspective and that of the Minister, what we are absolutely focused on is the safety of crews. In that regard, we are very clear in the RFT and procurement documents that any successful tender or bidder would have to prove absolute full compliance with the IAA before it could transition. Indeed, safety was of utmost importance and was the overarching priority during transition. We were very clear that we would not rush the transition and that safety was paramount. As it is, Bristow is fully compliant with IAA regulations in terms of safety and is fully compliant with employment legislation.

The IR mechanisms are available to any employee, as they are to any employee across the State, if they should so wish to pursue that. On the IAA, the regulatory environment can and does change and, as the contracting authority, we would fully expect Bristow or any other contractor to fully comply with any regulation that is in place. I will hand over to my colleague, Mr. O'Toole, for further comment.

I again thank Deputies and the committee for the opportunity today and particularly their recognition of the voluntary work and the joint effort in search and rescue in Ireland. It is very important. It is a fantastic opportunity. I thank them for that tribute they have paid. I briefly acknowledge the RNLI as a declared resource for the Coast Guard, the community rescue boats and our own 1,000-plus volunteers around 44 units who provide a vital service to the State.

Specifically on this, and to briefly to support my colleague, the system and the engagement is as described. It is a regulatory interface between a regulatory body and the regulatory industry. From the Coast Guard as an emergency service and one of the State's principal emergency services, our prerogative is to ensure a safe and efficient operation. That comes from the requirement for the contracted entity to be compliant with all regulatory requirements. Factoring is not new in terms of the contract, and I know that has been considered. Factoring was a function of the prior contract. Over recent years, the contract, in terms of operational standards in this space, has moved on with the embracing of a fatigue risk management system. CHC Ireland deployed that for the first time three years ago, and Bristow Ireland now has a very comprehensive suite of similar processes. We have a view in terms of liaising with the IAA and with Bristow to purely ensure that safety interface is active and that the regulatory compliance is as required. It is not for us to influence the regulator in any way. As has been highlighted, the regulatory landscape will change and evolve and we will potentially be consulted on that. Equally, our core focus is to ensure regulatory compliance and ensure our systems are safe. There has been a lot of focus on particular elements of this new contract, as it has been described, but it must be considered as a systemic approach to new and, as has been highlighted by many colleagues here, evolving requirements for search and rescue in Ireland. From the Coast Guard's perspective, we cover our exclusive economic zone and search and rescue region, which is over 400,000 km, and the broad coastline of Ireland. We work with partners, we understand the signals, and this contract is going to provide an agile system that will ensure we are future-proofed, not alone for two or three years but five to ten years and beyond. That is the view as regards the factoring question.

I welcome all our guests here today. It is a special day and it is an opportunity for me and my colleagues to say a sincere thank you to the witnesses and their organisations and to all the volunteers and groups out there who do a wonderful job. It is a very difficult job at times. As we all know, life is so precious and it is so special to save a life or lives. It is obviously so important to the individual or individuals who are in trouble but also to their families and their communities. I acknowledge that here today.

My own county of Kerry has many such great organisations. We have Ballybunion Sea and Cliff Rescue, Derrynane Inshore Rescue, Banna Rescue, Ballinskelligs Inshore Rescue, Killarney Water Rescue, Ballyheigue Inshore Rescue Service, and then we have the whole list of the Irish Coast Guard units in Dingle, Ballybunion, Glenderry, Iveragh and Valentia. When you start naming, you could leave ones out, but obviously I need to give a very special mention to Valentia Lifeboat Station and Kerry Mountain Rescue as well. These organisations have done tremendous work over many years.

I am glad funding was touched on because we should be focusing on funding today from what I have seen in regard to applications for grant aid and fundraising. There are people carrying buckets at roundabouts in our towns and villages and boxes in shops and bars, across my county anyway, with mini boats representing Valentia rescue and others. My understanding is that there a huge shortfall in funding forthcoming. We should be aiming to have a top-quality service in the context of the proper equipment and boats. The witnesses mentioned the cost of a boat and the type of funding they receive. Only for the community and local fundraising, we would be in big trouble. As a Government, we should be allocating funding for the very best of health and safety equipment, boats and everything in that context. If nothing else comes out of this meeting, that should be our real goal.

On other matters, Kerry is also covered by Rescue 115, the Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter. As a councillor I would have called for one to be based on Valentia Island. Is there an actual need? I believe there is because we have a vast county and we are covering three peninsulas. We are surrounded by water.

The other matter I raise is something I have touched on before. My son is a member of Kerry County Council now and he raised it quite recently as well. It is a smaller aspect of saving lives but there are areas that are not covered by these buoys or rings that we have on our beaches and some of our lakes. A scheme of them should be rolled out to areas where people are going that are not dedicated swimming areas such as lakes and rivers and certain coastal areas.

I might put that last question to Water Safety Ireland.

The Deputy mentioned need. If an area would like a risk assessment done, they can contact their local authority, such as Kerry County Council. The water safety development officer in Kerry County Council can reach out to Water Safety Ireland. We can organise an independent risk assessment based on ILSE criteria. The risk assessor risk assesses the area to decide on the needs, whether swimming could be allowed and what kind, whether ring buoys are required and, if they are, the distance and where they are placed. They will do a report which goes back to Kerry County Council. That risk assessment would be owned by Kerry County Council and would have recommendations from the risk assessor. If it was Kerry County Council, the council would then decide on the recommendations within that risk assessment report.

Will the Department of Transport and the Irish Coast Guard respond to the issues of search and air rescue in Valentia and that corner of Ireland?

We are very active in the Kerry region. We also have our rescue co-ordination centre based in Valentia.

The four-base strategy has worked for a long time in the State. This new aviation contract, for the first time, offers fixed-wing capability. In addition to the brand new fleet of helicopters, we have the addition of two fixed-wing aircraft based in Shannon. I will hand over to my colleague, the director, Mr. O'Toole, for further information.

As the Deputy highlighted, some very strategic and important resources for us are in the Kerry area, not least our rescue co-ordination centre in Valentia. Some of the most professional co-ordinators in Europe are within the Irish Coast Guard's co-ordination centres at Malin, Dublin and Valentia.

As regards the Deputy's specific questions, to answer directly, it has been a purposeful decision to maintain the four-base strategy. I might even go back to Deputy Gallagher's opening remarks. We have had civilian contracted Coast Guard services from the 1990s onwards, and I know Deputy Gallagher would have been involved in that at the time. The bases have arisen from that understanding of need across many decades of operational experience. While we are not anchored to the history and to that consideration, we have a risk-based approach where we continue to consider not just the nature of the incidents we have, particularly offshore, but also what future challenges might look like in that space.

Coming back to the platforms we have in the new contract, for the first time, we have six brand new aircraft. They are of an advanced technological performance, and they are all brand new to the Coast Guard. Critically and for the first time, there is the addition of the fixed-wing capacity. These are two King Air 200 aircraft which can go to the extremities of our search and rescue region and stay there for four or five hours. Again, this highlights the added benefit and value to the population that this new contract is adding. We will have a more agile, responsive and, dare I say, a more precise ability to conduct not just operations in the nearshore and such areas, but also at the extremities of our search and rescue region and our EEZ. There have been some challenges in discussions around range, etc., but I can be clear, and my colleague, Mr. Keogh, may amplify this, that in the thoughtful exercises in building out this strategy and the specifications, there are no gaps in terms of the level of coverage we require. We have full confidence we are covering the entirety of our search and rescue region and our EEZ with our new capacity. That is built on the very thoughtful outcomes-based procurement exercise and technical evaluation of the new contract.

In a slightly longer way, there is no strategic intent to amend the four-base strategy at present. Obviously, we maintain a very vigilant eye on that strategy. I might briefly pass to my colleague, Mr. Keogh, with respect to the technical specification development, etc.

Developed over a period of time, this involved a considerable amount of market engagement and research with the various stakeholders concerned. Regarding the aircraft type pitched in the procurement bid, it exceeds the basic RFT requirements set out in the procurement documentation in its range and performance required for the Irish Coast Guard's needs.

For the Kerry mountains, it has also proven itself to be very adept and agile in accessing part of that terrain, so we are very impressed with the performance of it in those environments. We have 60% more aircraft under this contract, with eight aircraft in total compared with five under the previous contract: six helicopters, as mentioned by Ms Cullen, and two fixed-wing aircraft. This brings a fixed-wing aeroplane element for the first time. That coherent, integrated aviation service with 60% more aircraft sets us up well for future-proofing. These new aircraft have the very latest technologies available to helicopter search and rescue. We are delighted to have that also with the experienced crew. We have the benefit of both worlds really.

On that last point, for the work that went into the procurement process, the enhanced specifications and all the positives of the new contract outlined there, is it fair to say the transition took a lot longer than it should have?

The transition took as long as we wanted it to in terms of safety and having everything in place before any particular base of the four bases went live. We did not unnecessarily put pressure on either the outgoing contractor or the incoming contractor to meet a particular date as such. Safety is of paramount importance, as has been highlighted here. We lost a little bit of time in the original transition period because of two judicial review challenges against the procurement process, which we were very happy to deal with through the courts, to a satisfactory outcome. That lost us a little bit of time, and rightly so, and we had to build that on at the tail end of it. The entire transition was meant to be completed in July 2025 and was completed in January 2026, so six months. However, that additional time came at no additional cost to the contract or to the Department.

Was there not a concern there was a loss of 24-hour service at several bases during the transition period?

Initially, there might have been for a very short period of a few weeks during the transition, particularly at Shannon in the outset. However, that was quickly remedied and we have not seen a repeat of that across the other three bases.

Do all bases now have full service over 24 hours?

Absolutely.

I might just expand on that a little bit. While Shannon may have been operating for 12 hours for a short time, we operate and have always operated a four-base strategy. That means if a base is down for whatever reason, and bases do go down, whether it is sick leave or an aircraft goes to tech, the system is integrated so that other bases pick up the slack. While a base was offline and will be offline again for whatever reason, there is no impact on service.

I have one point on the new contract which was flagged with me at an early stage. It relates to the point someone made about complementing and supporting the air ambulance service. Some of the new apparatus cannot facilitate a stretcher, and that has caused some concern on some of our offshore islands.

I will hand over to Mr. O'Toole for this.

First, it is useful to highlight again that there was absolutely and categorically no interruption to service. Last year, throughout the transition, we had more than 800 helicopter operations, which is aligned with previous years. This indicates the service was consistent throughout. The core focus, as has been highlighted, has been the safety of operations. It is not specifically for us to apply any type of commercial pressure on that space.

Will Mr. O'Toole comment on the complementary support service to the air ambulance?

With the Irish Air Corps, we provide a service to the National Ambulance Service and fly over 200 missions per year. This is called helicopter emergency medical services.

At the outset of the contract, there was a regulatory issue with respect to one stretcher on the Shannon base. It was part of the initial base. In terms of the nature and progression of a contract of this scope and scale, it is inevitable you will have these issues. What is key is there was no interruption to our helicopter emergency medical services, HEMS, while that issue was being rectified across the other bases. Since that has been rectified, we have not had a recurrent issue.

So, it has been rectified?

It has. Specifically, to the offshore islands - I am from an offshore island myself, as the Deputy might be aware - we place great store in terms of the service we continue to conduct and provide to the offshore islands. We are very focused on that and we are confident that service is not only consistent but is potentially enhanced.

Okay. That is excellent. I am glad to hear that because it caused concern. I have a question about the capital building programme. Obviously, I am from Galway West and there is a community in Galway West where there is an active unit. It has raised concerns with me on a number of occasions about the lack of facilities. The unit participates in search and rescue and there is nowhere to change or bring equipment. From the unit's perspective, it has been happening for a long time and the crew felt it might have progressed quicker under the capital building programme.

I thank the Deputy. Across the 44 units, there are more than 50 sites. It is well-recognised that not all of them meet the standard. For some volunteers who are contributing their own time and often at the expense of their families and employers, the facilities are not fit for purpose.

Over the last number of years, there have been a number of projects delivered. The official opening of Westport is next month. There is Greystones, which is due to be constructed by the end of this year. Bunmahon is another recent example of where a building has been delivered. In consultation with the OPW, we have endeavoured to look again at how we deliver these projects. The objective-----

Is that looking at each individual base?

No, looking across the sites to establish a programme-type approach so that we can deliver facilities for the volunteers more efficiently and cost-effectively. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, launched the volunteer facilities building programme in November of last year at our national officers in charge conference. That has categorised the units into four groups with a view to prioritising a number of projects at the same time and looking at a broader range of options rather than just a new build. It involves looking at other opportunities in the community, whether it is a lease option, a refurbishment, an upgrade or using other State assets.

Last week, the OPW advised us at an oversight group meeting last week that, in regard to two of our projects, Cleggan and Killaloe, it has just concluded a market trawl and will come back with some projects for us to appraise and will advise the relevant units as to the next steps.

Was that the first market trawl for those locations?

For those sites under this new strategy, yes.

It was the first market trawl under the new strategy but was it the first market trawl?

There have been other options explored, in Cleggan in particular. We are trying to look at a way to be more efficient with the pace with which we deliver these projects and looking at a broader range of options rather than automatically going to a new build. On a greenfield or brownfield site, it takes an awful lot of time because of planning, design, build and delivery.

I want to get a sense of this from the Coast Guard. Sadly, we have had a large number of tragedies at sea over the years. You then have inquests and investigations. I want to get a sense of the Coast Guard's approach to implementing recommendations that arise from inquests and investigations. What is the process to make sure lessons are learned and we strengthen the safety of the sea?

We have a very sophisticated safety management system, which reflects the absolute seriousness with which we take any recommendations arising from a tragedy. I will hand over to Mr. O'Toole, who might elaborate in more detail as to the process around that.

We have an integrated quality and safety management system. Even as recently as this year, we have been recertified to ISO 45001 standard. In terms of those quality and safety outputs, which are our highest priorities in our value set and across our operations, we actively test and measure our own capabilities through an internal audit arrangement across both our Coast Guard units and our co-ordination arrangements. We seek opportunities for continuous improvement through external verification and testing, be that regulatory or otherwise. Inquests and the outcomes of inquests form part of that. Those recommendations are then taken and embedded within our system-wide continuous improvement and action register. Those actions are tracked and reported upon on a quarterly basis and brought to finality.

With regard to specific recommendations from the most recent tragic loss of our colleague in Kilkee, those recommendations have been prioritised from a business planning perspective and have been embedded, and the vast majority are now closed out and concluded. That has seen a number of enhancements and improvements in terms of the way we provide equipment. It has informed upgrades to policy and procedure and those recommendations have assisted our engagement with our volunteers.

It is also important to recognise the role of the Coastal Unit Advisory Group, CUAG, which is a representative body for Irish Coast Guard volunteers. It is a cohort that does phenomenal work and is elected independently of the Department and the Coast Guard by the volunteer cohort themselves. We have a very positive and constructive relationship with CUAG and it advocates very strongly as well to maintain that third eye and vigilance on the work we do. In terms of our equipment and policy and procedure, CUAG provides user input to those as well.

Mr. O'Toole referred to the Caitríona Lucas inquest. There were seven recommendations that arose from that. Has every one of them been implemented at this stage?

At present, the majority of the seven are either closed or nearing closure. In terms of the organisation, we went a step further and adopted two additional recommendations. Having really reflected on the Kilkee recommendations, we adopted two further recommendations to support the other recommendations. Those have also been addressed.

There has been a concern. On the Cape Town Agreement, which I know is not the Coast Guard's specific responsibility but belongs to the Department of Transport and the Government, why has Ireland not implemented the Cape Town Agreement? That is the benchmark for marine safety internationally. It was agreed in 2012. We are 14 years on. Anybody here can comment on that today. The agreement is about safety of fishing vessels over a certain size. Why have we not done that?

As the director of the Coast Guard, my responsibility is for the delivery of the national emergency service. I am not a regulator so, with respect, I am not in a position to answer or offer an opinion. It would not actually be appropriate because we are also regulated by the regulator.

I appreciate that.

I am not in a position to offer a comment on that.

I just wanted to note it for the record. I have no quarrel with that and I did not an anticipate an answer. I just felt it would be remiss of me not to say on the record today there is an international maritime safety framework that has been agreed in the Cape Town Agreement. I do not understand why our Government has not adhered to it. I also want to say for the record that it is not the witnesses here today but I have been very disappointed with our Department of Transport for a long time and its resistance to learning the lessons on marine safety and adhering to best practice and international standards. That is no reflection on anybody here today. That is a separate reflection. I am not asking anybody to comment on that. It is my view, based on engaging with legislation and engaging over the years. I hope it will change because it does a disservice to the witnesses here in terms of their professionalism and reputation. I do not question it and I am a big admirer of our volunteers in the Coast Guard and in the RNLI.

I am from the Inishowen Peninsula, so I know more than most about the service the witnesses provide. I am on their side. I am an admirer but I feel our Government framework has let them down. I am going to continue to challenge that. I am not expecting a response, and I will leave it at that.

I want to move on to ask about the search and rescue process. I am very conscious that it is undertaken predominantly by volunteers. I have been party to one or two efforts. I see the potential for hazards in the search itself. Who is the ultimate responsible authority for co-ordinating a search effort?

I am happy to take that. We have responsibility at national level for provision of search and rescue services, but I will hand over to Mr. O'Toole, who might elaborate a little bit on the process.

I suppose I should qualify my comments. I am talking about when a search might go on for an extended period. There might be concerns that someone has entered the water and it has gone on for three, four or five days.

I will give a high-level context and then come back because there is a number of facets to the Deputy's question. The Coast Guard is, as described, the national competent authority for maritime search and rescue. Maritime pollution response is also a key area of our work. That is the international context. We work within an international convention that prescribes that. Equally, at a national level, under the major emergency management framework, we are assigned as a principal emergency service with that designated remit. In terms of that, we look at what are the other facets and pillars on which those responses are measured and codified. In terms of both of those areas, we have the national search and rescue plan and the national contingency plan, which speaks to search and rescue and maritime casualty and pollution response.

I will speak briefly on the maritime search and rescue. From the Coast Guard's perspective, we are responsible for the at sea response. We will co-ordinate the maritime search and rescue to save lives. When the viability of a life being saved has passed, and there are criteria by which that is measured, that operation transitions through a codified process into search and recovery. That is where many colleagues will become involved. Search and recovery operations, predominantly, as it is, the recovery of remains falls within the remit of An Garda Síochána. The Coast Guard's role as the maritime co-ordinator moves into a support function to An Garda Síochána in terms of that space. We will, through our aerial assets, where reasonable and the risk rationale holds out through our Coast Guard teams and through our declared resources with us here today, co-ordinate in assisting An Garda Síochána in that sense. It is a codified structure, but when we transfer from search and rescue to search and recovery, there is a change in the overall responsible authorities. It cannot be simplified to say that one entity has responsibility across the continuum of response.

That is interesting. I will move on to those people who co-ordinate groups for search and recovery. I was participating on the shore; I should have clarified that as well. One of the things is having knowledge about tides, where people should attend to, where we should leave the work to the professional bodies not to attend to. How do the groups involved in those scenarios co-ordinate that?

I thank the Deputy. First and foremost, as Mr. O'Toole said, we generally would not become involved in an operation until it has moved from a rescue into a recovery operation. It is ten years next month since our inception. In that time, we have garnered a cohort of volunteers. We call them our zone leaders. They would be the ones who go out in a co-ordinated fashion, and, uniquely, bring members of the public with them. As the Deputy can appreciate, we are bringing members of that person's family and friends, so it can be a very challenging time for all involved. It is done in a co-ordinated fashion by our base co-ordination team to ensure in relation to the tides, if the weather is too bad or different scenarios that we would not put people in danger.

Our first rule is that everyone who goes out comes home safely. That is the number one priority. It is unfortunate that the person has been lost and now it goes into that recovery operation. We work very closely with the Galway RNLI and Cleggan Coast Guard as well as other agencies, but there is a multi-agency facet in Galway, which was set up roughly ten years ago, which involves the fire service, Coast Guard, An Garda Síochána and the Galway lifeboat, to name a few. That is imperative that we have that joint multi-agency aspect so that an overall approach has safety as the number one priority for all involved.

I am glad that Mr. O'Toole has clarified the position about the stretchers. There was a lot of consternation, particularly on the islands, about that. It was rectified now. We will just leave it at that.

Deputy Connolly referred to the co-ordination. Are those who co-ordinate in a search and rescue the same people who co-ordinate when it is medical? Is it HEMS or someone else who co-ordinates that?

The simple answer is "No". At a structural level, there is a slight difference. We receive the tasking from the National Ambulance Service. The initial point of contact is with the National Ambulance Service and its aeromedical desk. It will review which asset, and it has a number of assets, including ourselves, across the State as best placed to perform the HEMS task. Then it assigns the resource. If it seeks to assign a Coast Guard resource, that will come through to our maritime rescue co-ordination centre in Dublin. Then it may be tasked to the maritime rescue co-ordination centre in the Deputy's own case in Donegal in Malin Head. It will co-ordinate our asset from that point out. The initial call is with the National Ambulance Service and its national aeromedical desk. It would review which asset, through its spectrum of assets - ourselves, the Air Corps and the contracted air ambulance services - is best placed to response to that task.

I should highlight one case. It was on the bank holiday in February for St. Brigid's Day. An individual was passing quite near to the Nowdoc. The Nowdoc was on duty on the bank holiday. They took a pain and went straight to the Nowdoc. Within minutes, they had summoned - whoever summoned it - the helicopter through the National Ambulance Service. It landed on the local football pitch, which always co-operates. They were transferred by ambulance to there and was immediately taken. These are the people who are very responsible - the first responders. There is no doctor on the helicopter, but they were able to assess and took him not to Letterkenny but to Derry because they realised this person needed stents in. It was there in record time. Had that not been effected on that day, that person would have been buried. It is important to hear those stories and the success.

It is not a question of the helicopter sitting idle. They are there and tasked as soon as they are called. It is a great tribute to all of them. It is a great service. I said at another meeting that if I were to have a heart attack tomorrow morning, the safest place to have it is on the most remote island off the Donegal coast. If you have a heart attack on Tory Island or Arranmore, the helicopter is in immediately and much more quickly. The witnesses are the people on the front line here today but there are a lot of others on the front line and I ask the witnesses to express our gratitude to each and every one, whether they are in search and rescue, water safety or the RNLI. We do not have the opportunity to express our gratitude to them. We expect the witnesses to do it. I thank the witnesses.

I acknowledge the note of recognition. I also highlight that we also engage with our colleagues in the RNLI in support of medevacs from the islands. I recognise those stations along the west coast in particular. Another facet was picked up earlier.

The Deputy spoke about a transfer from our aircraft to somewhere like Derry. We also place great store on our cross-Border relationship and our relationship with the UK Coastguard. It is a very strong and vibrant link and makes those operations seamless. As recently as this past weekend, Rescue 117 from Waterford played a vital role in supporting an operation in Cornwall. Equally, our aircraft support the National Ambulance Service in transferring paediatric organ transplant patients to the UK, which is a key part of our work. We undertook a number of those last year, which had a real impact on the most vulnerable members of our society. I thank the Deputy for that recognition.

While there are political boundaries in the country, as far as search and rescue is concerned, there are no boundaries.

I have a number of questions. The first set is for the Irish Coast Guard and the Department of Transport. To follow on from my previous question, I believe the issue of factoring is not going to go away. The issue of fatigue is something that aircrew are very conscious of and concerned about. The industrial relations apparatus of the State will become the forum in which it is played out, if not in the Irish or European courts. My question is whether it will be the contractor, in this case Bristow, or the Department of Transport or the Irish Coast Guard, which will be the named party in those disputes. Is it the Department, the Coast Guard or Bristow that will be defending that in the industrial relations apparatus of the State?

The employment relationship is between the employees and the employer. In that case, it would be the Bristow employees and Bristow Ireland as the employer. We are the contracting authority for the service.

That is absolutely the case. The employment relationship is between the employer and the employee. We are the contracting authority. We wish to ensure the highest levels of safety, and we defer to the Irish Aviation Authority in that regard. We will maintain a watching brief on this matter. It is very important.

Should the industrial relations apparatus or a court make a determination on it, I assume the Irish Coast Guard and the Department of Transport will take that on board and implement whatever the decision might be.

Absolutely.

There is provision in the contract for that to take place.

That is exactly it. This is a contract that is ten to 13 years long. Within that timeframe, it is to be expected that there will be changes, whether they are regulatory, to do with employment legislation developments or otherwise. Having been designed at length during the pre-procurement process, the contract is agile enough to respond to anything that arises.

Recently, Coast Guard volunteers were accepted as members of SIPTU, the largest trade union in the State. I understand they are seeking to have SIPTU represent them in their engagement with the management of the Irish Coast Guard and the Department of Transport. Are there plans to meet SIPTU in the near future? What engagement has taken place to date with SIPTU?

We have had no engagement with SIPTU. We have not been contacted or approached by SIPTU in any capacity. The official representative group for our volunteers is CUAG, the coastal unit advisory group, which Mr. O'Toole referred to earlier. This is a group of 12 members, who are all serving volunteers. We have six officers in charge and then six ordinary members.

I do not wish to take from the work of CUAG, but it is an advisory group. I am talking about a trade union with a negotiating licence and all the other things. The answer is that there has been no engagement.

The answer is “No.”

Thank you for that. I have a question for the Oranmore Maree Coastal Search Unit. I understand the work it undertakes is a little different in that it is not about saving lives at sea, but the really difficult task of recovering the remains of those who have been lost at sea. All of us from coastal communities really appreciate that work, whether it is undertaken by the Oranmore Maree Coastal Search Unit, the Coast Guard, An Garda Síochána, volunteers, community rescue boats or the RNLI. What measures does the Oranmore Maree Coastal Search Unit put in place for its volunteers in terms of debriefing and looking after them after the fact? It can be a very traumatic experience for anybody, even somebody who has experience in recovery operations. What steps does Oranmore Maree Coastal Search Unit take to look after its volunteers following a successful recovery, if we want to put it in those terms?

There are two elements to it. First and foremost, as the searches we are involved in can, unfortunately, go on for several weeks, we have a pastoral care team. They have responsibility not only for looking after the family and friends of the missing casualty, but also the well-being of our volunteers. We also have access to psychologists through the HSE, which we can call upon in the event that there has been a recovery. Most important is the debrief when a recovery operation is completed. It comes back to that cohort, and having a group around to talk things through and ensure everyone is doing okay. We use a buddy system, which is very similar to the RNLI and the Coast Guard, and people can check in on each other afterwards.

The debriefing after the search is to let people calm down, because the search itself can be quite intensive in very difficult situations. If, through talking to people after the search, we feel that further action is needed, we will follow up with phone calls and so on. As Mr. Morris said, we have access to psychologists if we think they are needed. Thankfully, there have not been any major issues in that situation, but we follow up with the various volunteers.

It is great to hear that. It is very important. That pastoral element is one that many groups operating in other spheres could learn from.

I have a question for Water Safety Ireland with regard to lifeguard training and the provision of public swimming pools in certain areas. Is this becoming a barrier to training a sufficient number of lifeguards? In west Waterford, for example, the lack of a swimming pool in Dungarvan is one of the factors that makes it difficult for the local authority to recruit summer lifeguards for the life-guarded beaches. Allied to that are the water safety development officers in each local authority. To what extent is their work co-ordinated at a State level?

Is the theft and vandalism of ring buoys an issue? Deputy Cahill raised the point. It is an issue that comes up in local communities on the ground regularly when they are damaged or interfered with. Is the issue being monitored by Water Safety Ireland at a national level? Is data being collated?

The deputy chief executive officer will take that question.

The lack of a pool is a point that is raised frequently. There are two tranches with lifeguarding - one is pool lifeguarding, and the other is open water lifeguarding. We train a sufficient number of lifeguards every year for the pools, but it becomes a challenge for the beaches, rivers and lakes. To put it simply, even if somebody takes one of our courses, they often take a job somewhere else, perhaps in a local store, for example. That can be a challenge. Those in the age group we are speaking to and training often decide to go on holiday. They have come through an intense period at college or university, for example, and they want to get away. That can interrupt the supply on occasion.

That said, we encourage people to take the courses, and we encourage parents to encourage their children to do so. We run communication campaigns to encourage people to take the courses. We also train lifeguard tutors around the country, and they in turn can run the courses, either through the 30 committees we have, or by themselves in a private capacity.

We have enabled that in recent years as well to address the challenge the Chair spoke to.

The Chair also mentioned the water safety development officers. Each local authority has a water safety development officer in place who is an employee within the local authority. They sit on the 30 committees we have around the country. One of those is with the Garda, another with the Defence Forces and then there are 28 others. These committees co-ordinate these activities we speak to. We bring them together every year in a pre-summer conference and a post-summer seminar. You can imagine that the pre-summer conference is to reflect on the challenges from the previous year and what the circumstances were for different incidents.

It is also a good time to reflect on the importance of the lifeguarding function within each local authority because hundreds of children are reunited with loved ones every year, for example. It is a successful day if lifeguards stay dry. They, in turn, rescue hundreds of people every year or prevent a tragedy in the first place. It is a very important job of work they do with great responsibility. The water safety development officers are responsible for recruiting these.

Mr. Sweeney might comment on the ring buoys being lost or interfered with.

With the ring buoys, it continues to be a challenge. There are peaks and troughs but the Chair will have seen some news headlines where one local authority had a situation where €20,000 worth were stolen or vandalised. We run campaigns to try to raise awareness of the importance of these lifesaving devices. We also run an award ceremony every November or October to raise awareness of situations in which they were used to effect a rescue. The local authorities are responsible for the placing of the ring buoys and they do a great job of that all around the country but we also have a schools programme. We introduced it to our primary school education syllabus so that children can learn how to throw a ring buoy. We hope that culturally, that will ensure people, as they grow older, will recognise the importance of these devices as a key lifesaving product in the public domain.

In regard to the co-ordination of the amount of ring buoys, we have a website called ringbuoys.ie. If anyone notices a ring buoy is missing, they can go on that website, put in a message and that message goes directly to the relevant water safety development officer in the particular local authority. They will be aware and will go out and be able to replace that ring buoy. Unfortunately, a stolen ring buoy is a stolen life and that is something we all have to remember.

I thank Dr. Walsh for that. That is a very useful website.

I thank the witnesses for coming in here today, especially my good friend from Clare. That is why she is called Clare McGrath, as we are all well aware. She has been very involved in water safety for a long number of years. I compliment her and all the witnesses on the Trojan and fantastic work they have been doing and will continue to do. Without them, we know there would probably be a lot more tragedies. Keep up the good work.

In regard to the Coast Guard, I see last year alone that there were almost 2,800 callouts. Does that amount of callouts put a lot of pressure on the system?

I thank the Deputy for the question. The numbers last year were up by about 10%. The numbers fluctuate year on year. The summer period is obviously our busier period in terms of activity but also, in regard to community resilience, we also support the other agencies around severe weather incidences, etc. That can have an impact.

Broadly, it is a relatively consistent figure and our system is staffed and resourced to support that. It is a multifaceted system including our three co-ordination centres, aviation assets, declared resources and our own Coast Guard units, which are vital to our response. Then we would have non-declared resources, those resources within the Defence Forces, etc., that we could call upon. Were they adequate? My view would be yes, they were.

Very good. Is there any update on the proposed construction of the new Coast Guard station in Kilkee? Are there some potential blockages as regards same? Have the witnesses an update on when this planning application might be lodged?

As has been described, we have 44 units and 55 locations. Of those, we have eight units - Deputy Connolly spoke to one - which are in a very high category of requirement. These are units operating from old rocket houses, which are 200 years old with no basic hygiene facilities. Beyond that, we have core maintenance work and upgrades. Our focus rightly has to be with those eight teams. We have highlighted Cleggan and Killaloe at the moment. Then we have ongoing works being conducted on the units that have a level of facility.

The facility in Kilkee is an older facility but we have done significant maintenance upgrades to it last year, with new roller doors, exterior work, etc. Kilkee forms part of our longer-term strategy but at the moment, our interim focus is on those eight units that have very low levels of accommodation - or maybe it is better characterised as levels beneath what we would require for our teams or that we think our teams deserve. Those units have interim arrangements in place, similar to Cleggan, as has been described. Kilkee is part of that programme but it is not at the priority end of it at the moment. We continue to be very vigilant around the maintenance requirements of that station.

When Mr. O'Toole says it is part of the programme but not really in the programme, does that mean there will be no centre coming to Kilkee sometime in the near future?

It is, maybe, not correct to say it is not in the programme. We have a new strategy with the OPW, as has been described by Ms Cullen. It is part of that but there is a level of what might be described as phasing. We have also embedded within the programme a level of agility, where certain projects can be advanced more quickly. I want to come back to the point that while we must be very focused on those eight initial facilities, that is not to say Kilkee is not part of the wider strategy.

Okay, I thank Mr. O'Toole. I have a question for Water Safety Ireland. As we are well aware, coastal activities are becoming very popular at the moment. Do the witnesses see any increase in the level of risk taken in relation to these activities? Would they have concern? What policy support do they think would strengthen accident prevention and rescue capacity over the coming years because of the massive increase in coastal activities?

As the Deputy mentioned, the risk is, of course, increasing and we see several emerging trends which are reshaping risk. We all know, post Covid, that open water swimming and coastal recreation has become hugely important and accessible for people. It has increased significantly in recent years. This is obviously positive for our mental well-being and our health but with it comes risk. With the increase in activity, there is always going to be a risk that people do not understand the safety considerations out there - understandings tide, rip currents, cold water shock or rapidly changing weather conditions. There is also another risk. Not alone has it become popular to go swimming, walking and engaging in aquatic recreation but there has also been a change in seasonal risk. While it predominantly would have been in summertime, it is now becoming an all-year-round activity. With that, patterns are changing and people are now exposed to water in colder months, increasing the likelihood of things like hypothermia and the risk of drowning and death.

There is also the social media influence that is happening at the moment, encouraging and promoting risk-taking behaviour. I talked earlier on about the fact about the years 2019 to 2023, inclusive, when we lost 532 lives to drowning. Out of that, 24 were children under 18. That is a full classroom wiped out in five years. We are taking that risky behaviour, and the encouraging of the likes of tombstoning and all these dangerous activities, really seriously. If we look at the risky behaviours of people who are drowning and the demographics, 62% of people who drown in this country are people in their 40s, 50s and 60s. We are looking at those at-risk groups and, responding to that, our policy is, as I mentioned, continued investment in education.

Our new six-team education team is not just focusing on schools. We are looking at a full-life approach from the cradle right up to end-of-life years. That team will focus on children in schools, but we will also focus on universities. We recently started working with men's sheds in Ireland. We launched some pilot schemes where we are going out teaching and reaching the at-risk groups. These are mostly men; 70% of those who drown are men.

Regarding the policies on and response to these risks, there is prevention, education and support. As we mentioned, a lot of it is the volunteers. These are the men and women who are getting out there, putting on the gear and going out in the boats. It is about supporting them and making sure they are safe. Their safety has to be number one before they go and rescue somebody. In the aeroplane, a parent puts on their oxygen mask before they attend to their child. We have to make sure these men and women are safe before they go out and deliver the safety that is required for people in difficulty.

It is also about promotion. We do a huge amount of marketing that is delivering that safety message. There is a national co-ordinated water safety approach, which we do. Water Safety Ireland, the Coast Guard and the RNLI have the marine safety communications group, which meets regularly. Every bank holiday, they put out a co-ordinated water safety message. That will focus, for example, on co-ordinating weather warnings, or on anything that is particularly risky at that time, as a theme of every bank holiday message that goes out.

I will return to the fundraising issue. It is tremendous to offer to volunteer and give of your own time freely to save the lives others and, sadly, on occasion to recover bodies. Following on from what Dr. Walsh said, the safety of these crews is hugely important. It is in everyone's interests to ensure that they have the best of gear and equipment to carry out the role they carry out when called upon. The idea of many of the same volunteers going around with buckets in hand, literally begging for money to get the equipment they require to save lives, is not good enough. Will the committee write to the Minister for Transport, or any other Minister who covers this particular area, in regard to a significant increase in funding? For as long as I can remember, fundraising has been going on in this area and it should not be the case. This is so important. What price can we put on life? As a Government and a State, we should do something about that.

That question was directed at me more than any of our witnesses. I absolutely agree with the Deputy. At the very least, we should write to the Minister for Transport to ask that in next year's budget, there will be an increased allocation of funding for the schemes that are there at present. I am also keen to see the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine provide more flexibility when it comes to funding ports and infrastructure. In particular, with the idea about future developments of ports and infrastructure, there should be a recognition that there needs to be a space for a lifeboat for the Coast Guard for access and egress, and a community rescue boat for recovery operations needs to be factored into the design and into funding mechanisms. Whether it is to clear sand and silt out of Helvick or ensure access to a base at Boatstrand for the Bunmahon rescue boat, or whatever it might be, there should be a recognition of that from the Government.

I also put it back to members in and outside this committee within their respective political parties and organisations. We will have a budget later this year. They should make sure those points are ventilated in their respective parliamentary party rooms with the respective Ministers. That would be as useful as a letter from the committee, but we should definitely write to those two Ministers.

On what Deputy Cahill and the Cathaoirleach said regarding Oranmore and the RNLI, I am from Monaghan, where I see wee flagships being sold and there is a person who raises money for the RNLI with a table quiz. Is Oranmore Maree's funding model completely donations? Does it get any Government money?

We are completely 100% voluntary. We do not receive any State funding. It is based on people going out and shaking buckets. It is also family members, after a recovery, who generously go out and fundraise on our behalf. We were very lucky to have just recently received a grant from Galway Rural Development in relation to the LEADER programme, for which I thank them very much. That money is for a brand-new rib, which we urgently need. As I said, we are very grateful to them. To answer the Deputy's question, everything comes from voluntary donations.

I echo what Deputy Cahill and the Cathaoirleach said. We need to put this on a statutory footing. I know there is the RNLI or whatever, but when the RNLI stands down, it is the Oranmore people who are coming in to do that work. We need to put this on a more statutory footing. A lot of people are using water, inland and in the seas, more than ever. If we go back ten, 15 or 20 years, we very rarely heard a warning for people swimming when the good weather came. Now, there are constantly warnings on radio and television for people not to swim in quarries, not to go out on the water or whatever. I support the request from Deputy Cahill and the Cathaoirleach that we look into this and put the funding on a statutory footing.

I thank the Deputy for raising the point. The RNLI spends in the region of €12.5 million a year in Ireland, excluding capital projects. It is significant funding. Support comes in many guises. Finance is often the easiest one to see, but perhaps there are a suite of options that could be considered. As the Cathaoirleach said, even considering those aspects of harbours or whatever it may be at an early stage in the initiation of projects is absolutely critical. Looking at those suite of support options is important and can make big gains in life-saving.

I thank the Deputies for highlighting the challenges within the local organisations. As I said, the 11 declared CRBIs get €5,000 per annum - that is it - for the work we do. We are the declared resource for the Coast Guard. It is very important that some statutory funding is put in place. We are not looking for much. For example, for 11 boats, €220,000 in vouched funding would solve our problem.

That point is very well made. I see in Waterford City River Rescue, Tramore and Bunmahon, and I mentioned this several times, the value for that investment of €5,000 per annum that the State gets-----

Absolutely.

-----including co-ordination with the Coast Guard, the other statutory agencies and the voluntary bodies. It is huge. We all love to go to the various table quizzes and fundraising events, and to go and shake a bucket, but it should not always be thus. There is definitely a role for communities to play in it and people take huge pride in it. I am thinking particularly of the Dungarvan Bay swim, which is one of the highlights of the year, when weather does not preclude it from going ahead. Some of these are big highlights in the social calendar in our respective areas, but the point is well made about a level of State recognition for the contribution these voluntary agencies make.

Deputy Cooney was almost in mid-flow when I cut him off because of the clock. We have a bit of time, so I will allow him put his final question. We will then hear from Deputy Connolly, very quickly. At that point, we will finish up.

I thank the Chair. I will not delay matters. Again, I compliment Water Safety Ireland on its public awareness and education, which is very good and which saves many lives.

I like the response I got from Ms Cullen about the ante being upped as well, which is good. As I said, there is a lot more activity now in the coastal areas than there was before. Again, funding is a major issue. No matter what we are doing, funding is an issue. At this stage, we cannot forget the volunteers. The number of volunteers to help and support is unbelievable. Would the representatives of the Coast Guard like to talk about the volunteers and what they are achieving? Without the volunteers in this country, for sport and everything else, I often wonder where we would be.

We have almost 1,000 volunteers across the 44 coastal units and, as the Deputy says, they are a vital and critical part of the service we provide. We have spent the last two or three years in particular focusing on the role of the volunteer and how we can improve the volunteer experience. This can be through the capital investment projects or through provision of enhanced PPE. Recently, we were very happy to win an award at the national procurement awards, in conjunction with the Office of Government Procurement, for provision of a new dry-suit system for our volunteers. That is one example. We are also about to roll out a boat replacement programme across the units. Beyond that, the coastal unit advisory group, CUAG, advocates well for the needs of the volunteers. One of the things the group has been very keen on is provision of independent HR services and independent counselling services for those volunteers who wish to avail of them.

We recently commissioned Crowe Ireland to conduct a survey of the volunteers and the overwhelming majority indicated they would recommend volunteering to a friend and were complimentary of the volunteer experience, describing it as positive. Where we do want to improve is in optimising the contribution of the volunteers. To that end, we have invested in staffing structures, which means that we have removed some of the administrative burden for volunteers of filling out forms or whatever. We have taken some of that work away to allow the volunteers to focus on the training and the life-saving work.

One of the messages we received strongly through the survey was about how we recognise the contribution of the volunteers. In the main, volunteers are very proud of their volunteer status but we want to address the question of how else we can recognise them. That could be their own contribution, as I said earlier, that of their families or of their employees. We are working on this with a cohort of volunteers and CUAG to put together a framework to recognise those contributions. Mr. O'Toole may have something to add regarding the volunteers.

To highlight again, we undertake nearly 1,200 operations with our volunteers. As with other colleagues here, volunteers are at the heart of their communities. We put a very significant focus on the values they bring to our organisation. We have seen a situation arise now where we have volunteers beginning to perform vital roles as full-time Coast Guard officers and within other functions. As we have outlined, we have enhanced the oversight and supervisory elements to allow the volunteers to get on with those very critical roles. We are always mindful as well that the volunteers do not conduct their work of delivering the emergency service in isolation. They are supported by their families and communities. It takes that meitheal, so to speak, to deliver on the coast and we are very cognisant of that.

Strategically, in the longer term, in terms of what has been already shared, we are looking to the challenges of volunteering and the ability of individuals to give of their time. We want to cherish that and ensure that our model is very sustainable and that we have a positive cohort of volunteers going forward. We are happy to say we have that in terms of the applications on hand.

I thank Mr. O'Toole. It is great to see the volunteers being acknowledged.

There is no doubt volunteers are the superpower in this sector. The RNLI has over 1,000 operational volunteers, and many times that number of fundraisers, and I pay testament to their work. We should not underestimate the might of that workforce; it is phenomenal.

I want to add a little about the work of Water Safety Ireland. It recently ran a course for us for water safety 1 certification. One of our leaders had an opportunity to implement that within a couple of days. She was at the Blackrock diving tower in Galway and a lady got into trouble in the water. The one thing our leader remembered from the course was to stay dry herself so she could manage it when she was inshore and did not get herself into trouble. It brought awareness to us. It was a very good course for our leaders and I compliment Water Safety Ireland on doing that. It had a real practical implication in a matter of days in that case.

That is a good practical example of co-ordination and co-operation between different organisations.

I echo Deputy Cooney's sentiment on volunteers and the feedback we have received. I have a question for Water Safety Ireland. Ms Cullen spoke about the changing nature of outdoor swimming and how it is no longer just a pursuit of the summer season. Is there any local authority that provides a lifeguard service on a 12-month basis at an outdoor location?

No, I do not believe there are any. Even in Australia, there is not cover for 12 months. I only recently found that out and I was quite shocked. I would have thought it would be the case there but it does not always provide cover for 12 months. Our chair, Ms McGrath, has had the wonderful experience of being a water safety development officer in her working career so she might be able to say something about that.

There are definitely calls for a 12-month lifeguard service but it would not be practically possible with the conditions in Ireland, in terms of the cold water, the winter storms and the students who do the work. Summertime is when lifeguards are on duty. There have been calls to extend it and some local authorities bring the start back to the middle of May and the end to the middle of September to extend the summer season, but being realistic, the winter season would not be practically possible.

Just to add some colour, we have one example across in the UK of a lifeguard being on duty 365 days a year. It is interesting seeing a lifeguard wearing a woolly hat and not a t-shirt, but that is just one example close to home.

For my part, in recent years I have been trying to encourage Waterford City and County Council to maybe not go for 12 months but even just to make the summer beach lifeguarding season a little longer than the primary school holidays. This would recognise that more people are using our beaches and more people are sea swimming. Secondary school students finish a couple of weeks earlier than primary school children and use the beaches as well. Maybe we can all work on to encourage local authorities to do that. This comes back to Deputy Cahill's point, about funding being provided from Government to do so, because the local authority system is so dependent on core funding from the Department.

We have come to the end of our time. This has been a really interesting discussion and we had an interesting set of questions. The responses were even more interesting and illuminating. I thank the witnesses for being here, for their contributions and for the work they do in their respective fields outside of this committee room. I thank members for their contributions as well.