Conor D McGuinness: Calls to End Unsafe Coast Guard Shift Accounting
Conor D McGuinness addressed the minister about Coast Guard air crew rostering and accused the State of treating 24-hour readiness as only 16.5 hours of work. He argued this practice increases fatigue, endangers crews and coastal communities, and may breach Irish and EU working time law.
The speaker stressed that coast guard air crews work 24-hour duty systems in constant readiness, living on base and prepared to launch in minutes. He said those hours include medical evacuations from fishing boats, offshore ship responses, road traffic incidents on the N25, cliff rescues and medical transfers.
He accused the government and the Irish Aviation Authority practice of downgrading the lived reality of the job by not recording a quarter of on-base readiness as working time. The speaker described the approach as unsafe, unsustainable and a direct threat to crew safety through increased fatigue and stretched rosters.
The speaker invoked European working time rules and court rulings, saying when workers must remain in immediate readiness and cannot freely use their time, that period counts as working time. He said the current practice by the State and the IAA runs counter to best practice and the law.
Representing a coastal constituency shaped by generations who worked at sea, he pointed to Waterford and the South East where communities recognise the helicopters overhead as signs of lifesaving work. He recalled a past mobilisation in the South East that forced a ministerial reversal when a search and rescue base had been proposed for removal from a tender.
The speaker raised questions about newly recruited staff who are not part of the CHC transfer and not protected by transfer of undertakings, asking whether they will face different or inferior working conditions. He urged the State to act now rather than waiting for another tragedy.
He said the motion seeks to stop the unsafe factoring practice, record hours honestly and fairly, comply with Irish and EU law and ensure that those who risk everything to protect the public are themselves protected and not undermined.
Operational reality of Coast Guard shifts
The speaker stressed that coast guard air crews work 24-hour duty systems in constant readiness, living on base and prepared to launch in minutes. He said those hours include medical evacuations from fishing boats, offshore ship responses, road traffic incidents on the N25, cliff rescues and medical transfers.
Criticism of State accounting and safety risks
He accused the government and the Irish Aviation Authority practice of downgrading the lived reality of the job by not recording a quarter of on-base readiness as working time. The speaker described the approach as unsafe, unsustainable and a direct threat to crew safety through increased fatigue and stretched rosters.
Legal framework and EU working time rules
The speaker invoked European working time rules and court rulings, saying when workers must remain in immediate readiness and cannot freely use their time, that period counts as working time. He said the current practice by the State and the IAA runs counter to best practice and the law.
Local impact and community mobilisation
Representing a coastal constituency shaped by generations who worked at sea, he pointed to Waterford and the South East where communities recognise the helicopters overhead as signs of lifesaving work. He recalled a past mobilisation in the South East that forced a ministerial reversal when a search and rescue base had been proposed for removal from a tender.
Concerns over contractor transfers and new recruits
The speaker raised questions about newly recruited staff who are not part of the CHC transfer and not protected by transfer of undertakings, asking whether they will face different or inferior working conditions. He urged the State to act now rather than waiting for another tragedy.
Motion demand and remedies
He said the motion seeks to stop the unsafe factoring practice, record hours honestly and fairly, comply with Irish and EU law and ensure that those who risk everything to protect the public are themselves protected and not undermined.
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Transcript
Every community that depends on our Coast Guard air crews knows the truth. Minister, this state, our maritime nation, our coastal communities would be lost without them. They are the people who go out when everyone else comes in. The answer calls in the darkest hours, in the worst weather, over sea and land and when lives hang in the balance. They do all of that while working some of the most demanding 24-hour duty systems anywhere in the public service. Representing a coastal constituency shaped by generations who lived and worked close to the sea, I know how essential this service is. In Waterford and across the South East, we see the helicopters overhead, we hear them at night and we understand exactly what they mean. That someone, somewhere, often at sea, often in bad conditions is in trouble and that these crews are on the way, whether it is a medical evacuation from a fishing boat or a ship offshore, whether it is responding to a road traffic incident on the N25, whether it is a coast cliff rescue or a medical transfer. Yet the government now presides over a system that pretends that 24 hours of continuous readiness amounts to only 16 and a half hours of work. It is not a technical adjustment here. It is not an accounting error. It is not a matter of differing interpretations. It is a downgrading of the lived reality of the job and a direct threat to crew safety through increased fatigue and further stretching of already heavy rosters. Minister, this government is knowingly endangering our search and rescue crews. By extension, that means they are endangering every coastal community they protect and serve. These crews work 24-hour shifts in constant readiness, living on a base and prepared to launch in minutes, yet the State pretends that a quarter of that time does not count. As a representative of a proud coastal region shaped by generations who work the seas, I know what this service means. The message from these crews and from our coastal communities is clear. The current system is unsafe, it is unsustainable, a minister is unlawful. The State must act, not when another tragedy forces its hand, but now. European working time rules are clear. When workers are required to remain in immediate readiness, bound to strict response times and unable to use their times freely, that time is working time. Courts across Europe have reinforced this again and again. What the IAA is doing goes against the best practice and it goes against the law. Here is the influence of the State of lago Unlecht and Hazara asirus sit down the chair and whenich step within the space. Their pace bear will ever progress. The response will nicht everywhere of the founder's theme, the traditionalßer religion of the 1950s are also known as the Variable Convention on Business´s. For the United States, theflare is the right enough to get a sense of activity. The engineer gets unable to reach the coast and return in. It is of your desire to focus so that it is unlawful as the majority ofwd against Trent In Waterford, we know what happens when the government takes its eye off the ball. Your predecessor Minister for Transport tried to cut the SEA and the search and rescue base from the tender document for the new contract. And the people of the South East, fishermen, coastal workers, volunteers, families, mobilised because they knew exactly what was at stake. They forced that Minister into a reversal and they saved the service. They did it because they understood what search and rescue is and they understand it's not something that you play around with. It's not something you denigrate or diminish. Another issue must now be confronted. Newly recruited staff who are not part of the CHC transfer and are not protected by transfer of undertakings. Will they face different, potentially inferior working conditions? And if government takes action, instead of the amendment that's put down to this motion tonight, but if government takes responsibility and takes action to remediate the issue that we're raising here, will the issue still remain for the new entrance to this service? So our motion asks for something really straightforward and overdue. It's to stop the unsafe factoring practice. It's to record hours honestly and fairly. It's to comply with Irish and EU law and ensure that the people who risk everything to protect the public are themselves protected and not undermined. Yeah.