I thank members for the invitation to attend this meeting to discuss proposals for Malin and Valentia Island marine rescue centres. The maritime safety sector has been developing in recent years and the Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey, has been acutely conscious of the need to enhance the sector and has paid it particular attention. Progress is being made in terms of legislative reform, service provision and capacity development. A sustained programme of development in the coming years is needed to ensure Ireland can provide a world-class maritime safety service. This will require investment. It is, therefore, essential that best use be made of every resource made available to us.
In that context, a priority is the provision of radio services. The main radio switch and control equipment of the Irish Coast Guard are located at three manned sites, namely, Dublin, Malin and Valentia. They operate and control 21 remote radio sites around the coast and on the Shannon and co-ordinate the on-scene rescue response provided by others.
Dublin's centre, the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre, MRCC, is responsible for co-ordinating responses to major marine emergency incidents anywhere in the Irish search and rescue region or the Irish pollution responsibility zone. The centres at Valentia and Malin are marine rescue sub-centres with delegated authority from the MRCC to co-ordinate a response to marine emergencies in their areas of responsibility.
Key elements of our VHP radio communications are old and not readily serviceable and they are running at full capacity. There is no doubt but that further investment is required, as has been recognised for some years. A Deloitte & Touche report on the Irish Coast Guard in 2002 recommended that two centres, rather than the current three, be capable of supporting the entire national network. The consultants identified one centre, with a back-up centre nearby, which could be quickly activated if the main centre were out of commission and which would also double as a training facility, as the most economical and efficient option. However, the need for strengthened resilience in the event of a severe localised incident, which could make the one centre and its close-by reserve centre inoperable, has led to the focus on a two-centre operation. The consultants did not identify where the two centres should be located.
Several options have been considered. Initially it was felt that the MRCC in Dublin should close, leaving the centres at Malin and Valentia as the two manned marine emergency response centres. It was later confirmed that there should be two centres, one of which should be on the east coast and the other of which should be on the west coast, at either Malin or Valentia. That was the position when I took responsibility for the area. The Minister confirmed that we should go to tender for two sets of equipment. I also put forward the case for considering an alternative to the sites at Malin or Valentia as the best possible site for a west coast centre. I obtained approval to explore that option.
That position was reinforced when, on foot of the budget day announcement of 5 December 2007, the Minister for Finance asked each Department to undertake an efficiency review of expenditure. The review was to consider specifically the need for better sharing of services and efficiencies in management, travel and consumables in general.
Neither marine rescue sub-centre in its current state can properly accommodate the requirements of a modern, integrated national search and rescue function and prepare for the future without considerable building modifications. New equipment and buildings are needed. It is, therefore, timely to consider what location could most efficiently provide a better service in the longer term. A change in location would not impact negatively on the direct rescue services provided by Irish Coast Guard helicopters, local Irish Coast Guard volunteers, local RNLI volunteers, the Naval Service and other groups and agencies.
From a national maritime safety perspective, the ideal west coast site would provide the following: the best infrastructure; the least potential for disruption; the most efficient use of staff resources; the best access for additional personnel in a major emergency; the quickest access to and from the east coast site; the greatest potential for shared and integrated services; and the greatest potential for future development. These criteria must be considered in the context of providing a national emergency service. They do not reflect on the suitability of locations for other development. The aspiration is that the location would provide the best possible service to those at risk at sea well into the future.
However, any move from either of the present sites would have an adverse impact on the local community and would have to take account of the safety needs of local communities, ongoing improvement of the service to the public and the concerns of individual staff members.
That said, recent developments have increased the pressure to finalise an east coast site. These include rationalisation of office space as part of the overall decentralisation programme, which has resulted in the sale of the nurses' home building in Leeson Lane. Continued use of this existing location is not possible even in the short term. The MRCC must transfer out by mid-2009. The focus is on ensuring this transfer is accomplished without loss of service and that a centre, collocated with the overall maritime safety function including Irish Coast Guard headquarters and capable of meeting the full national need, is maintained. The pressure and urgency to finalise this east coast site means any change in the west will not be possible in the short term.
In light of what I have said, the Minister for Transport has prioritised the relocation of the east coast MRCC. The Department will now immediately progress the tender for two integrated communications systems. One will be housed in the new headquarters of the Coast Guard and the other in a temporary location. The Malin and Valentia desks will be remotely connected to the ICS and the existing staff retained at both sites.
