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Coast Guard Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 July 2013

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

Questions (282, 284, 285)

Gerry Adams

Question:

282. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport if he will provide a breakdown of the number of call outs of each of the coastguard units in County Louth in 2011, 2012 and to date in 2013; the amount of fatalities that occurred during each of these years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35597/13]

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Gerry Adams

Question:

284. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport the average coastguard call out time for emergencies which occur in the sea in the vicinity of Clogherhead from the Greenore coastguard and from the Drogheda coastguard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35599/13]

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Gerry Adams

Question:

285. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport the length of shoreline and nautical miles which are covered by each of the Coastguard units in County Louth. [35600/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 282, 284 and 285 together.

There are three Coast Guard Units in Co. Louth at Greenore, Clogherhead and Drogheda. Details of the number of call-outs in 2011, 2012 and 2013 are as follow:

 

Incidents

Greenore

Clogherhead

Drogheda

2011

17

16

 39

2012

28

 23

 37

2013 to date

 8

8

 28

The Coast Guard does not hold details of the number of fatalities per Unit; rather an overall national figure is recorded. This information will take longer to compile and will be forwarded to the Deputy when completed.

All Units of the Irish Coast Guard are expected to able to muster and send out a first response team from their Station Houses with 15 minutes of activation of their pagers. Each Unit is expected to be able to organise a full Unit response within 1 hour. Clogherhead to Greenore by road takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes, and to Clogherhead from Drogheda is 20 minutes.

Depending on the extent of the incident and the search period involved the Units may be tasked to assist in each other's area, and they may also assist the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency in border areas when requested. There is also RNLI unit in Clogherhead equipped with an All Weather Lifeboat, which is a declared resource for the Coast Guard.

The shoreline length in Co. Louth is 85.22kms (52.95 mls). However, the operational area of the Units are not defined strictly by reference to length of shore line. From a shore search perspective the Drogheda Unit primarily covers the River Boyne and south towards Bettystown, the Clogherhead Unit mainly covers Dundalk Bay and the Greenore Unit mainly covers Carlingford Lough. Drogheda and Greenore Coast Guard inshore boats cover the patrol area meeting at around Dunany Point.

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