Vol. 556 No. 4
120 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Defence the extent to which his Department provides air, sea and land rescue services; if he will give an assurance that there will be no curtailment of expenditure in this area now or in the foreseeable future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20850/02]
The Irish Coast Guard of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources has overall responsibility for the provision of marine search and rescue services in this country. However, one of the roles of the Defence Forces, as set out in the White Paper, is to carry out duties in relation to search and rescue as may be assigned to them from time to time. In this regard, the Air Corps is engaged in providing SAR off the north west coast and is in the process of acquiring an S61 helicopter to operate in the north west region. The initial air crew training has been completed and the Air Corps is now engaged in working up for this operation. It is anticipated that this helicopter will go operational in early 2003. The S61 helicopter has been leased by the Irish Coast Guard from Canadian Helicopter Corporation Ireland Limited (CHCI) pursuant to existing SAR contracts and has been tasked by the Irish Coast Guard to the Air Corps. The Air Corps will provide the flight crews and the aircraft will be maintained by CHCI. The S61 will operate out of Sligo Airport.
Assistance is also provided by the Naval Service and the Army on a case by case basis as the needs arises. The Civil Defence organisation, which is controlled at national level by my Department, provides assistance when requested by the Coast Guard or the Garda Síochána. Following the difficult decision to cancel the tender competition for the acquisition of medium lift helicopters for the Air Corps last June, I asked my officials to initiate a review of the provision of helicopter services, in conjunction with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, to determine how best to meet the State's obligations in search and rescue, while taking account of the current financial position. An interdepartmental working group has been established to seek alternative solutions to the funding issue, such as public private partnerships or leasing arrangements, with a view to providing helicopters for the Air Corps by other means. This work is at an early stage. Outside of this, there is no current planned capital expenditure on search and rescue services by my Department and, as such, the question of curtailment does not arise.
