Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 27 Nov 1991

Vol. 413 No. 6

Adjournment Debate. - Air and Sea Rescue Services.

Mr. Yates

I should like to thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this very grave matter of significant public importance in relation to our emergency marine rescue services on the east coast. The topic would not have been raised but for the failure and the evasiveness of the Minister for the Marine yesterday in the House in failing to answer various questions. I hope that the Minister of State will answer straightforward, simple questions.

In relation to the events in Dublin Bay last Friday morning, will the Minister of State clarify who rescued the 11 sailors off the m. v. Kilkenny? From where did the helicopters which went to the scene originate and how many were there? These are crucial questions because it has been put to me that it was not the rescue services which saved the 11 men within 20 minutes. The Minister said yesterday that he was particularly proud of the rescue services and that it was important, in the context of the House and the country, that they had saved 11 of the crew of the m. v. Kilkenny within 20 minutes. I took up this matter with officers of the Department of Defence today to find out the position of the cover. I was told that in Baldonnel airport there is only an Alouette helicopter and that it does not have any night flying facilities.

Dublin port is the most significant in the country, it is the largest cargo port and it is beside one of the largest ferry ports, Dún Laoghaire. It is on the busiest sea route, the channel. I was told that only an Alouette is in place and that, most significantly, the flying time for a Dauphin helicopter from Shannon to Dublin is 55 minutes. I was also told that the cover is dependent on the RAF on the east coast. Is the cover adequate on the east coast? On 15 July the Minister for the Marine commissioned the Sikorski S61 helicopter from Shannon airport at a cost of £25 million over a period of five and a half years.

The critical factor in relation to a sailor going overboard from a ship into turbulent seas and exposure is the first 30 minutes. As we have such enormous traffic there is an obligation to have nighttime services and for the Government to upgrade the facilities at Baldonnel. If it transpires that we are dependent on Welsh RAF helicopters or those located in Shannon, rescue within the first 30 minutes cannot be guaranteed.

The Minister of State should answer the questions which were unanswered yesterday. He must ensure that there will be no repeat of this horrendous tragedy. We were very fortunate that the waters were calm at the time of the accident; in different circumstances there could be greater loss of life. Will the Minister also clarify reports that it took 20 minutes to alert the Dún Laoghaire lifeboat? These reports were made to me and I do not know whether they are accurate. However, I am very concerned about this matter. I want clear answers from the Minister. Who took the 11 people from the water last Friday morning? From where did the helicopters originate? Will he acknowledge that there is a deficiency in the service which needs to be upgraded by providing Baldonnel airport with night-time facilities?

Minister of State at the Department of the Marine (Mr. Noonan

, Limerick West): As the Deputy is aware, a detailed review of the air-sea rescue services was made by an international expert group chaired by the former Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, Mr. Eamonn Doherty.

The report was published, and the Government have adopted the report as a basis for their emergency planning. In particular, that report recommended that a 24-hour helicopter service should be put in place at Shannon and at Finner Camp, County Donegal.

For Dublin (Baldonnel airport) the group proposed the reintroduction of the Alouette III helicopter for daylight search and rescue to supplement, in particular, the deployment of helicopters to the west coast for the national 24-hour service.

A critical element in meeting the report's recommendations was the location of a medium-range 200 mile radius helicopter at Shannon.

The Shannon based medium-range helicopter is a national resource. It was acquired to supplement the Dauphin helicopter, not only in terms of longer range, but also in terms of carrying capacity and better bad weather performance. The Shannon location was chosen because it is the most central in the Irish search and rescue region equipped with the facilities to support a 24-hour search and rescue service.

Since the Sikorski S 61 became operational on 15 July 1991 it has been called out 56 times and saved 37 lives. It has given invaluable assistance to fishermen, island communities and holiday-makers particularly on the west and south-west coasts. The Dauphin aircraft at Finner, County Donegal has carried out 16 missions since its deployment and saved five lives. The international standard for night time search and rescue helicopter response is two hours from call-out to incident location.

The Department of the Marine medium range helicopter based at Shannon can reach any point on the Irish coast except for north and west Donegal within two hours at night. Donegal is covered by the Air Corps Dauphin helicopter based at Finner Camp. The Irish Sea is also covered by three British west coast helicopter bases.

In the recent incident in Dublin Bay, the Shannon medium-range helicopter arrived one hour 25 minutes after call-out; the RAF helicopter arrived 15 minutes later. These responses were well within internationally accepted response standards for night search and rescue helicopters.

I would like to stress that this was a very successful rescue operation. Eleven of the crew were rescued in less than 35 minutes after the collision. I would like to pay particular tribute to the master and crew of the Leinster and Hasselwerder for their rescue response. The services involved in the rescue worked throughout the night searching for other survivors. There was excellent co-ordination and co-operation between the Department of the Marine, Dublin Port and Docks Board and B & I. This close co-operation is continuing in the search for the missing crewman and the salvage operation.

The Air Corps guarantee a daylight only service from Baldonnel. The incidents in the Dublin area generally involve pleasure craft or swimmers in daylight inshore and the Alouette III helicopter is suited to this task. Since June, 1991 the Alouette III service at Baldonnel have performed 28 search and rescue missions and 70 air ambulance missions. The priorities for the deployment of the Dauphin helicopter are: (i) a 24-hour search and rescue service at Finner, County Donegal which is in operation since mid-July 1991; and (ii) Sea and Air service at Cork, when helicopter is not embarked on l.e. Eithne.

Night-time helicopters are not on immediate standby since the crews do not remain on base. The general international standard is for 45 minutes standby before a helicopter is airborne. Therefore, even if a night service was available at Baldonnel, a response of less than 50 minutes could not have been expected.

Taking into account the deployment of the Alouette III at Baldonnel, British search and rescue helicopters on the west coast of Great Britain and the Department of the Marine medium-range helicopter at Shannon, all locations in the Irish Sea are covered within the internationally accepted response times of one hour by day and two hours by night.

In looking at the search and rescue — SAR — capabilities on a particular coast, we must have regard to the other SAR resources available there. For example, the east coast is very well served with lifeboat stations especially compared to the west. There are nine lifeboat stations with 11 lifeboats between Rosslare, County Wexford and Kilkeel, County Down. On the west coast, there are five stations from Valentia, County Kerry to Arranmore, County Donegal.

When the new arrangements have been in operation for a reasonable period on summer-winter conditions, the director of Slánú, the Irish Marine Emergency Service, will report to me on the incidence of accidents, on the responses and response times, on the number involved, and will recommend to me any changes in deployment that are desirable on the basis of experience. The preliminary investigations are under way and it is hoped that they will be completed within a very short time. I will then be in a position to adequately answer one of the questions posed to me by the Deputy this evening.

Mr. Yates

Does the Minister know who took the people out of the water? It certainly was not the helicopters.