A LEADING marine safety campaigner has accused the Government of trying to save money at the expense of lives in its handling of the renewed airsea rescue helicopter contract for the west coast.
Ms Joan McGinley, the Donegal fisheries researcher who initiated a campaign nine years ago for the medium range helicopter base at Shannon, has called on the Minister for the Marine to clarify his approach.
Mr Barrett needs to tell the public what he was saving by awarding the new contract to a different company, and at what cost he is willing to put people's lives in coastal communities at risk," she said.
Bond Helicopters, the Scottish company which has been awarded the new Shannon contract, has hired most of the original air sea rescue helicopter crew employed by the previous contract holder, Irish Helicopters.
However, it was given an extension of two months to fit "autohover" equipment to its Sikorsky. Last month, it confirmed that it would not meet the February 28th deadline for installing autohover, but a penalty clause incorporated into the agreement drawn up by the Department of the Marine has not been invoked.
"Autohover" is computer assisted navigational equipment which allows the helicopter to hold a fixed position over a body or vessel and carry out a rescue in poor visibility or at night. A fully equipped craft will be on station by mid March, the company has promised.
The period during which service has been restricted has not been particularly busy, but a Kerry fishing skipper criticised the company on local radio in January for failing to rescue an injured crewman.
The crewman was taken off by the lifeboat, when the Irish Marine Emergency Service (IMES) said that the helicopter could not fly in the conditions. I was fortunate that last week's emergency, in which the Shannon Sikorsky airlifted a Spanish crew from a vessel which caught fire in the Atlantic occurred in daylight hours, Ms McGinley said.
"Had that occurred at night when `autohover' was required, would the aircraft have been able to respond?" she asked.
Mr Sean Hillery, member of Clare County Council and Shannon Town Commissioners, has also accused the Government of "downgrading" the service. Irish Helicopters had provided the lowest compliant tender, and other interested companies had withdrawn from the tendering procedure when unable to comply with the requirement that a fully equipped craft be on station by February 28th, he said.
Although the Department of Marine has not issued figures, Irish Helicopters, which put up a strong bid to retain the business, claims that the difference between its tender and Bond Helicopters' was only 6 per cent the Department says it was closer to 25 per cent.
