Vol. 577 No. 4
91 Mr. English asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the rationale behind making the decision to close the marine emergency co-ordination centre in Dublin and to transfer responsibility to Valentia and Malin Head. [31331/03]
The decision to transfer the services of the marine rescue co-ordination centre from Dublin was taken on foot of a study of the coast guard undertaken by independent consultants. Reflecting advances in modern communications technologies, the consultants recommended that the coast guard should operate two control centres as opposed to the three centres that exist at present. This approach will have the effect of achieving significant cost savings, thus enabling other elements of the coast guard service to be developed which, in turn, will lead to further improvements in our marine emergency response services nationally.
My objective is that the remaining two centres at Valentia and Malin Head will be developed to handle all emergencies around our coast, on inland waters and mountain, cliff and cave rescue. Communications technology today is such that the geographical location of the co-ordination centres is less important now than in the past and, in this context, Government policies on decentralisation from Dublin are also relevant.
It is important to stress that the capability of the coast guard to co-ordinate and manage incidents will not be diminished in any way as a result of the closure of the Dublin rather than the Valentia or Malin Head centres nor will the decision affect the very significant emergency response resources on the ground, which will remain available to the coast guard on a year round 24 hour basis.
Coast guard management is examining all issues relating to the operation of the two centres going forward, including establishing what measures will be necessary to effect a smooth transfer from Dublin to the other two centres while ensuring that full co-ordination capability is maintained at all time.
