A government consultancy review of marine safety has recommended that the State's three coastal radio stations in Donegal, Kerry and Dublin be amalgamated, and says the existing safety network is not equipped to deal with international commitments on pollution control.
Only one of the three coast radio stations, at Valentia, Co Kerry, Malin, Co Donegal, and Dublin, is required due to technological improvements, the unpublished review says. Though it does not specify which station should remain open, it is understood that the Department of the Marine would prefer Dublin.
More than 30 staff affected by a merger should be redeployed to carry out pollution control, the review by Price Waterhouse consultants says. It also recommends that aerial pollution control be contracted out, or commissioned as part of existing Air Corps fishery patrols.
The study, which was commissioned by the Government's interdepartmental expenditure review committee, rules out providing a helicopter ambulance service within the remit of Irish Marine Emergency Service.
The case made by a group of rural doctors for a helicopter emergency medical service, known as the HEMS campaign, is still being examined separately by the Department of Health.
The assessment invited a wide range of views on the performance of IMES since it was established in 1991 and the old Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) was moved from Shannon to Dublin.
Originally, MRCC duties were carried out at the Naval Base in Haulbowline. The current remit of the service comprises marine search and rescue, shore search and rescue, pollution control, salvage, casualty and information/ education on marine safety and pollution matters.
The consultants note that the service is giving good value for money on search and rescue, and they support the concept of a name change to "coastguard". The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, has promised legislation to change the name and has also secured Cabinet support for extending the remit to cover inland waterways.
The study says international search and rescue commitments will be met when an Air Corps Dauphin, rather than the current daytime Alouette, is deployed in Waterford.
It recommends that a tug be purchased to meet international pollution control commitments, a recommendation also made in the Price Waterhouse study of the Naval Service and Air Corps.
However, it does not expressly refer to this separate review, which had recommended significant investment in naval and air equipment to meet a multi-tasking role embracing search and rescue.
Dr Woods is standing over the recent decision to send a lifeboat, rather than a helicopter, to the aid of a Co Cork fisherman injured in a deck accident off Kinsale. The skipper's wife maintained that an Air Corps helicopter based in Waterford could have made a quicker journey, and it was reported at the time that a helicopter was training in Dungarvan Bay.
