Rose Conway-Walsh criticises 24-hour shift recording for Coast Guard
Rose Conway-Walsh addressed concerns over Coast Guard search and rescue working conditions, urging an end to under-recording of 24-hour shifts and full compliance with Irish and EU working time law. She backed a Sinn Féin motion to protect crews from dangerous levels of fatigue and criticised a government amendment that removed substantive safeguards.
Tribute to fallen crew
She opened by remembering Dara Fitzpatrick, Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciaran Smith from Rescue 116 who lost their lives on duty in 2017, and Catharina Lucas from 2016, and paid tribute to other search and rescue personnel who died in service.
Purpose of the Sinn Féin motion
The motion aimed to defend the safety and working conditions of Coast Guard search and rescue teams, to end the under-recording of 24-hour shifts, to ensure compliance with Irish and EU working time law, and to protect crews from dangerous fatigue. She also thanked deputies Cullinan and McGuinness for putting the motion forward.
Concerns about shift recording and fatigue
She argued that recording a full 24-hour shift as only 16.5 hours through a factoring scheme is inappropriate, unsafe and inconsistent with law. She said the factoring inflates the number of 24-hour shifts a worker can be asked to perform by an extra 21 shifts per year and thereby exposes crews and the public to unnecessary risk.
Criticism of government response
She criticised the government for deleting every substantive part of the motion through its amendment, describing the move as an outsourcing of accountability and responsibility and saying it was disgraceful and an insult to Coast Guard services and volunteers.
Local impact and volunteers
She commended Coast Guard volunteers in Mayo and highlighted the reliance of coastal communities and offshore islands on search and rescue crews. She referenced a specific example of someone travelling from Bally Croix to Inish Bigel to illustrate who people call when danger strikes.
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Goera maagat and congratulations Minister on your new role. When we talk about rescue services, I want to remember Dara Fitzpatrick, Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciaran Smith from Rescue 116 who lost their lives on duty in 2017. I also want to remember Catharina Lucas from 2016 and then many others who lost their lives as well in their service to this country. And I think us even having to put forward this motion, and I want to thank my colleagues, deputies Cullinan and McGuinness for putting it forward. We shouldn't even have to do this. I think it's disgraceful. And I do think it's an insult to the Coast Guard services, the search and rescue crews. I also want to commend all of those volunteers that are involved in the Coast Guard. Coming from a county like Mayo, we see day and night what those volunteers put in to their communities to keep their communities safe and to keep people safe. And obviously coming from Mayo as well, we have the offshore islands. Even I know tonight there's somebody travelling from Bally Croix over to Inish Bigel who knows what's going to happen and who do you call in that instance. So the intended purpose of the Sinn Féin motion was simple. It was to defend the safety and working conditions of our Coast Guard search and rescue teams, crews. These brave workers are absolutely vital to counties like my own in Mayo, where our coastal communities depend on them every single day and night. Many of our people work at sea and they know that when danger strikes, it is these crews who answer the call. And I am very disappointed, Minister. I keep finding over and over again that there's just a lack of accountability from government, from so many different things. You know, it's not our responsibility, it's somebody else, somebody we've contracted to do the job. This outsourcing of everything, an outsourcing of accountability, an outsourcing of responsibility isn't acceptable. Our motion is clear. It's to end the under-recording of the 24-hour shifts. It's to ensure compliance with Irish and EU working time law, and it's to protect our crews from dangerous levels of fatigue. The recording of a full 24-hour shift as only 16.5 hours through a factoring scheme is inappropriate, unsafe and inconsistent with law. It inflates the number of 24-hour shifts the worker can be asked to perform by an extra 21 shifts per year. And as a result, it exposes our crews and public to a necessary risk. Have we learned anything at all? Can you stop me when my time is up, Lasky Hernan? But instead of engaging with these real concerns, the government's amendment tonight deletes every substantive part of our motion. And that is not acceptable. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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