Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 June 2022
183. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Transport the specific details of the significant programme of change across key areas of the Irish Coast Guard that he announced recently taking into account the issues raised and recommended in the final report on an accident (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33960/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt is presumed the deputy is referring to the statements made on my behalf by Minister of State at the Department of Health Deputy Frankie Feighan during commencement matters in Seanad Éireann on Wed 15 Jun.
Since then, on Fri 17 Jun, the AAIU has published the responses returned by my colleague Minister Eamon Ryan on the 1st Feb (as well as some subsequent clarifications) in relation to the 14 Safety Recommendations addressed to him. These Safety Recommendations have been deemed either closed or in process of implementation. This reflects the significant work done by the Department and the Irish Coast Guard since the tragic loss of R116 in 2017. Where a Recommendation is in process of implementation the Department clearly set out next steps and timeframes for completion and the AAIU has acknowledged the proposed steps.
In the week following the publication of the AAIU report into the accident I and my colleague Minister Eamon Ryan spoke extensively in the Dáil and the Seanad respectively (17th and 18th November) outlining the progress which had been made which I can refer to here.
The Department did not wait for the publication of the final report to implement changes on foot of the lessons learned following the accident. Since March 2017, and specifically following receipt of the draft final report in September 2019, the Department and, in particular, the Irish Coast Guard, have undertaken a significant programme of change across key areas to take account of issues raised and recommendations addressed to me.
On foot of the interim report of the air accident investigation unit, the then Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport commissioned an independent review of oversight arrangements for search and rescue aviation operations in Ireland. Following publication of the independent review, known as the AQE report, in September 2018, the then Minister committed to implementing its 12 recommendations. The measures that have been taken fall under six broad categories: the development of a new national search and rescue framework, the national SAR plan or NSP; enhancing safety and oversight across the search and rescue system; addressing oversight of search and rescue aviation elements nationally and internationally; the review and revision of all relevant standard operating procedures and training for Coast Guard personnel, in particular rescue co-ordination centre staff training, with a focus on aviation tasking including the introduction of a formal course on tasking of aviation assets delivered by an IAA authorised training organisation; the development of an externally accredited safety management system in the Coast Guard; and a review of governance arrangements in regard to the aviation contractor, enhancing aviation expertise in critical areas and legislative reform of the IAA.
A new search and rescue framework, the NSP, which provides for more explicit governance, assurance and oversight roles across the SAR system, was noted by Government and published in July 2019. The key objectives of the NSP are to achieve a rebalancing of the previous maritime-centric SAR framework to encompass air and land SAR more comprehensively; establish effective governance, oversight and assurance across the SAR system to take account of national and international obligations; achieve clarity on roles, inter-relationships and responsibilities from the strategic through to tactical and operational levels; develop a common approach to managing SAR incidents across the three domains; to set priorities, objectives and performance expectations, measure performance at system level; and provide a sound and clear basis for continuous improvement.
The NSP sets out more explicit governance, assurance and oversight roles across the SAR system. The plan resets a more strategic and focused national search and rescue committee with a leaner and more coherent set of sub-committees, including an SAR consultative committee, a regulators forum, a health and safety forum and an aviation forum. The plan also sets out a clear description of the national SAR system, including roles, inter-relationships and responsibilities from the strategic through to tactical and operational levels.
Another deliverable was an implementation plan for the recommended model for a joint rescue co-ordination centre, JRCC. It is a special type of rescue co-ordination centre that is operated by personnel from the maritime rescue co-ordination centre and the aviation rescue co-ordination centre. This virtual JRCC is intended to capitalise on the strengths of the current model, minimising disruption and exploiting opportunities for enhanced technology, closer co-operation and revised operating procedures, notably to address the vulnerabilities identified in the existing model and to provide for stronger oversight arrangements.
Significant progress has been made on the implementation of the new joint model. The Coast Guard and IAA have agreed a concept of operations and procedures manual and this work has resulted in increased collaboration and professional interaction between the Coast Guard and the aeronautical rescue co-ordination centre. Formal establishment is subject to the filling of newly established positions in the Coast Guard rescue co-ordination centre following a public appointments service process.
As an appendix to the NSP, guidance is provided on the development of a common approach to managing SAR incidents across all three domains of land, maritime and aeronautical SAR, including the transition from search and rescue to search and recovery. It was agreed that the NSP would be delivered on a phased basis to enable a managed and integrated approach to the development of the new SAR structures, along with the coherent development of memoranda of understanding and service level agreements between all relevant stakeholders to underpin the new assurance mechanism.
Since then, progress in delivering key aspects of the implementation plan has been good, with the majority of actions completed and the remainder on track for delivery in 2022. The actions include the first annual report of the NSARC on the NSP, which was approved in July of last year and subsequently published by the Government on gov.ie. The second annual report will be presented shortly.
Key performance indicators for the NSP are being developed by a dedicated working group. The development of a new dynamic SAR assets register is under way. A new aviation training programme for Irish Coast Guard staff provided by an IAA approved training provider is ongoing. In addition to the Irish Coast Guard staff, course participants include aeronautical rescue co-ordination centre staff and members of An Garda Síochána from the Garda air support unit, which is indicative of the increased collaboration between the three SAR co-ordinators.
As mentioned earlier, in light of safety recommendations, the Coast Guard is building on its safety management system, which encompasses all aspects of its operations. The safety management system will be externally accredited to ISO 45001. A review and revision of all relevant standard operating procedures and training of Coast Guard personnel was completed and updated on foot of incident reviews under the Coast Guard continuous improvement regime.
In regard to implementing a safety management system to ISO 45001 the Coast Guard is in the final stages of work to prepare for accreditation later this year. The Coast Guard is also implementing a range of measures which represent a SAR assurance system. This includes updating and renewing its memorandums of understanding, MOUs, with SAR co-ordinators and SAR facility providers. MOUs are based on an agreed template setting out respective roles and responsibilities, services provided, availability and oversight arrangements. This includes continuous system improvement, risk assessment and safety management. The vast majority of these MOUs are completed with first-line SAR facility providers and SAR co-ordinators. Work is ongoing with the remaining support organisations with which the Coast Guard has links.
The legislative framework for the regulation of coast guard aviation activities continues to be enhanced. The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), in consultation with the IRCG and the Department, developed a revised set of regulations and detailed rules specific to search and rescue. These were published on 1 June. Further national legislation for coast guard aviation operations is set out in the Irish Aviation Authority (Regulation of Irish Coast Guard Aviation Operations) Order 2022 (S.I. 212 of 2022) which came into force on 1 May. The IAA is developing procedures to transition from the existing SAR Approval to a National Coast Guard Approval provided for in S.I. 212 of 2022, which will provide for a single regulatory framework to cover all coast guard aviation activities. The IAA, the IRCG and the Department, will continue to work closely together to enhance the regulation and oversight of coast guard aviation operations.
I hope this account satisfies the Deputy, further information and general information on the Search and Rescue services work in Ireland will be available in the National SAR Plan Annual Report to be published shortly.
