I wish to begin by acknowledging Councillor Marie-Thérèse Duffy from Ballina, who has joined us in the Public Gallery. She is the sister of our colleague, Senator Mark Duffy, and does a fantastic job in representing the people of the Ballina area.

Today, I wish to speak about an act of heroism that took place off the coast of Wexford down in Rosslare on Sunday evening. When a child got into difficulty swimming, a man jumped into the waters to try to rescue the child. That man then got into difficulty himself and four more people got involved in the rescue. Thankfully, due to a combination of the efforts of the Coast Guard, the RNLI, and Rescue 117, joined by members of the National Ambulance Service, some off-duty nurses and members of An Garda Síochána, there was no fatality. While those six individuals were taken to Wexford General Hospital they are ultimately in a stable condition, which is a massive relief to everybody. It does show the importance of Rescue 117 and in particular the important work of the Coast Guard and the work it does in a costal county like my own of Wexford, which has such busy ports like Rosslare Europort, but also such a long stretch of coastline up and down its side. Particularly with the hot summer weather we have at the moment, it shows the importance of recognising that the sea can be a dangerous place and that it has cost many people - fishermen and many others - their lives. In this spell of fine weather when so many people want to visit the golden beaches of Wexford, it is important to always be cognisant of the difficulties and the dangers the sea can bring.

I join with the Senator in welcoming Councillor Duffy to the Gallery. She is most welcome. In a strange twist of events I think I spent an extended period of time in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with her sister. There is a whole story behind that but I will buy Councillor Duffy a coffee and explain that one to her.