The Minister for the Marine intends to develop a national coastguard agency for search and rescue, salvage and pollution monitoring. The initiative will form part of general development plans for the existing Irish Marine Emergency Service, Dr Woods told The Irish Times.
The new search-and-rescue helicopter for the east coast, to be based in Dublin, will be staffed by civilian crew due to a shortage of Air Corps resources, Dr Woods confirmed. The medium-load helicopter, which will be provided on private contract from July 1st, was to have been crewed by a combination of Air Corps and civilian personnel.
The marine emergency service was set up in 1992 as a wing of the Department of the Marine and had proved its worth since then, Dr Woods said, paying tribute to its director, Capt Liam Kirwan, and the many volunteer units who assisted it. The coastguard would assume its functions, but would be awarded a statutory basis under special legislation, Dr Woods said.
He intends to seek cabinet support for the initiative shortly and he said the new agency would require increased resources. He would not quantify a figure, however, pending a Department of Finance review of the existing emergency operations. Marine safety was given a 34 per cent increase in the recent Estimates, from £7.7 million annually to £10.34 million.
The coastguard will have a broader remit than that of most European coastguard services, reflecting the wide-ranging functions of the service, Dr Woods said. Pollution control would be one of its key functions as Ireland was due to ratify new international legislation on oil pollution this year.
Under the legislation, local and harbour authorities, as well as oil installations, will have to have pollution contingency plans which will require the approval of the service. Insurance provided for oil spills will be directed to cover operational costs, and an Irish pollution response committee will be established this year.
Recommendations made by the British Marine Accident Investigation Bureau on the Sea Empress oil spill off Wales would also be studied.
In the short term, marine rescue is to receive a significant boost with the provision of the new east coast helicopter and the redeployment of an Air Corps Dauphin to Waterford to cover the south-east coast from July. The redirection of Air Corps pilots to the new Garda air wing and general loss of personnel mean that all Air Corps search-and-rescue resources will be concentrated at Finner, Baldonnel and Waterford.
The Irish Marine Emergency Service is also to advertise in the EU Journal shortly for provision of the new GMDSS system for marine communications. Morse code is to be phased out at the end of this year, but an emergency listening watch will be maintained on VHF radio channel 16 for "the foreseeable future", the Minister said.
The service's coastal units are to receive two new rescue craft, four extra Transit vans and renovation or construction of eight buildings this year, Dr Woods added. And 120 members of the Dublin Fire Brigade had been trained for offshore fire-fighting. Six would be available on duty at all times from the end of the month. The search-and-rescue helicopters already carry full fire-fighting equipment.
The Minister said the coastguard would not cut across the work of existing units, including the Naval Service, which was not a declared search-and-rescue facility and did not perform pollution control, salvage or communication functions. It acted as an aid to the civil authorities, he said, referring to the recent response by the LE Eithne to the cargo ship, Oak, which had been in difficulties off the coast on New Year's Day.
Responding to recent criticism by fishing industry representatives about the failure to implement a fishing vessel safety review, published two years ago, Dr Woods said an £11 million modernisation package for the whitefish fleet had been approved before Christmas. He was trying to conclude a grant-aid scheme with the EU and to provide for fiscal incentives, and this was a priority.
He intended to establish an award scheme which would recognise the valiant work undertaken by many volunteers. He was also pressing for publication of investigations into the most recent marine accidents, including the Carrickatine and Jenalisa, he said, reports on which were with the Attorney General's office.