Vol. 572 No. 6
261 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the position in relation to the Malin radio station; the plans to develop the service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24171/03]
Consultants, retained by my Department to conduct a study of the Irish Coast Guard, made over 100 recommendations for the future development of the service having regard to international best practice and value for money.
Reflecting modern communications technologies, one of the main recommendations was that the Coast Guard should operate two control centres as opposed to the three centres that exist at present. Communications technology today also means that the geographical location of the centres is less important now than in the past. A decision was taken to close the Dublin centre rather than Malin or Valentia. This approach will have the effect of achieving significant cost savings, thus enabling other elements of the Coast Guard service to be developed and this in turn will lead to further improvements in our marine emergency response services nationally.
