Before speaking to my Adjournment matter, I concur with everything Senator MacSharry said. It has been my experience — I will prove this — that HIQA is not independent and that the organisations mentioned are in cahoots. The Minister is not in control of the issue, particularly when it comes to doing the right thing for the elderly.
Water Safety
The Senator should continue on her own Adjournment matter.
I thank the Minister of State for being present. This matter concerns rescue services on Lough Ree, the second largest lake on the River Shannon, covering an area of over 10,500 hectares. There are two very successful fishing clubs in the Athlone area and there are similar clubs in counties Longford and Roscommon. Many companies operate passenger boats and offer pleasure cruises on Lough Ree. Some of their vessels can accommodate up to 50 people. The members of the fishing clubs and the passengers on these pleasure craft need to be able to rest assured there is a back-up rescue service on Lough Ree. Lanesboro, a vibrant, flourishing town and great angling centre, is located on the southern end of the lake, some 25 km from Athlone.
In view of the fact that water sports have become so popular in recent years, there is a need for a lifeboat service on Lough Ree. Huge numbers of tourists, some of whom rent river cruisers, visit the area each year. A certain percentage of these individuals have relatively little experience of waterways and experience difficulties either in trying to pilot their vessels or when the weather changes.
Lough Ree yacht club is the oldest club of its kind in Ireland. It is over 240 years old and has a huge number of young people among its membership. Athlone rowing club is also one of the oldest of its kind in the country and it too has many young members. Athlone sub-aqua club is recognised nationally as being a very good club and it also caters for large numbers of young people.
There are major stretches of unprotected quays along the banks of Lough Ree. People can, and regularly do, accidentally fall into the lake. I was contacted by a local boat owner last week who informed me that he had rescued two children whose small dinghy had been blown out onto the lake from the Hodson Bay area. Due to the fact that he loves boats and often uses the local waterways, the man in question, who also owns a local hostelry, was called upon to aid these children.
A number of individuals have lost their lives on Lough Ree in recent years. Some of them could have been saved if a rescue service had been in place in the Longford-Westmeath-Roscommon area. There is a strong willingness among members of the local community in Athlone to volunteer as crew members if a lifeboat service were established. In addition, people are prepared to fund-raise in respect of such a service.
While researching this matter, I became aware that there is a very good lifeboat service for Lough Derg. This service operates out of Dromineer, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and was established by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, RNLI, in 2004. The Lough Derg lifeboat is a B class Atlantic 21 vessel and it covers an 22 mile area from Portumna to north Killaloe and downstream to Parteen Weir. I have spoken to Mr. Martin Smith of the RNLI, which has been informally approached by the community in the Longford-Westmeath-Roscommon area and which has indicated it is agreeable to carrying out some research into the matter before reporting back to its principal officers.
The people who live in Longford, Westmeath and Roscommon have as great a need for a lifeboat service as their counterparts who live in the Lough Erne — who also have access to a great service — and Lough Derg areas. A committee has been formed to carry out fund-raising and obtain a vessel that will assist in saving the lives of people who get into difficulties on Lough Ree.
I spoke to representatives of the Coast Guard in respect of this matter and I understand I should perhaps have raised it with the Minister for Transport. However, I was of the opinion that the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs would have responsibility in this area. Mr. Chris Reynolds of the Coast Guard recognises there is a need for a rescue boat on Lough Ree. He informed me that a rescue service for Blessington Lake in Wicklow is about to be launched. In that context, I do not understand why there is no rescue service for Lough Ree, which is the second largest lake in the country.
I am of the view that the Ministers for Transport and Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputies Noel Dempsey and Pat Carey, should be able to locate some funds and contribute them to the fund-raising efforts relating to the establishment of a rescue service for Lough Ree. I await the Minister of State's reply with interest.
I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs. I thank Senator McFadden for raising it.
Responsibility for responding to boating incidents on the Shannon navigation, including Athlone and its environs, rests primarily with the Garda Síochána which, following initial assessment, generally informs the maritime rescue co-ordination centre of the Irish Coast Guard, which is part of the Department of Transport and which tasks the appropriate "declared" rescue assets in the area, such as an RNLI or Community Rescue Boats Ireland, CRBI, lifeboat or Coast Guard helicopter. The Department of Transport exercises overarching responsibility for maritime and aviation search and rescue, SAR, services and in respect of maritime and aviation safety through its divisions and agencies, namely, the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, and airport, port and harbour authorities.
As a division of the Department of Transport, the Irish Coast Guard has responsibility for the co-ordination of maritime SAR emergency response at sea and along the coasts and cliffs and on major inland lakes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It has a comprehensive marine communications network covering Irish offshore and inland waterways. Since 2000 the Irish Coast Guard has expanded its marine VHF radio network to cover all the inland navigations of Ireland so any craft fitted with a VHF radio transceiver can contact it in the event of an emergency. It also has the facility to monitor emergency positions indicating radio beacons, EPIRBs, if fitted to craft and activated in emergencies. Since 2005, the RNLI and the CRBI have each established rescue stations on Lough Derg, at Dromineer and Killaloe-Ballina respectively. At present there is no declared rescue craft on Lough Ree. Athlone and Roscommon sub-aqua clubs respond when called upon, if they have members available at the time to man their craft.
Waterways Ireland, a North-South implementation body under the remit of the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, does not see itself becoming involved in this area of marine activity, particularly in light of other Departments' responsibilities, the very professional service that is already in place and the excellent work being carried out by the volunteers of the RNLI and the CRBI. Waterways Ireland is responsible for the management, maintenance, development and restoration of the inland navigable waterway system, principally for recreational purposes. It has been given the specific responsibility by the North-South Ministerial Council of restoring the south-west section of the Ulster Canal from Lough Erne to Clones.
I thank the Minister of State for her response, the tenor of which I anticipated. I would have thought Waterways Ireland would be responsible for providing rescue services on our lakes. I ask her to bring this matter to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Pat Carey, who might then discuss it with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey. I intend to contact the former because there is strong support in the community and on the part of the RNLI and the Coast Guard in respect of progressing this matter.
The Seanad adjourned at 7.50 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 24 June 2010.