The Minister for the Marine, Dr Woods, has said that he is committed to pushing through legislation for a national coastguard, in spite of a Department of Finance proposal to merge the Air Corps and Naval Service.
The coastguard will be based on the existing Irish Marine Emergency Service network (IMES), but will extend to inland waterways on foot of a recommendation by the National Safety Council.
The Department of Finance proposal for the Air Corps and Naval Service is one of many which will have to be considered in a separate context, as part of the White Paper on Defence, Dr Woods said.
Indicating that he preferred an independent rescue agency, the Minister said that his Department had tried to involve the Air Corps in the east coast helicopter service which was introduced by the IMES last year. Although the contract was "open-ended" and medium-range equipment was provided, the Air Corps had not been able to deliver on crew, Dr Woods said.
The two Defence services would act as a "support" for the new coastguard, the Minister said, speaking in Galway at the opening of new harbour offices for the port company.
The Irish branch of the Nautical Institute, which represents naval and merchant seafarers, has called on the Department of Finance to clarify its proposal, details of which were reported recently in the Irish Independent. In its own submission to the White Paper on Defence, the institute recommended an expanded role for the Naval Service, and cited the US Coastguard as a model.
"If the Department of Finance has accepted that this State has obligations in the waters under its control, and is recommending steps to meet those, the institute would be interested to learn more," a spokesman for the Nautical Institute said. However, it feared that the Department was using the term "coastguard" as a screen to reduce the State's commitment to maritime defence and policing - a commitment which the recent Price Waterhouse review of both Defence services had cited as a "minimalist approach".
The National Safety Council has predicted that the transfer of responsibility for inland safety to the marine network will take place within the year and that there will be an increase in community rescue stations. The council published its own guidelines for community rescue stations at a function in Galway on Saturday which was attended by the Minister of State for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Bobby Molloy.
The existing stations are run by voluntary groups as a support for the service run by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The National Safety Council chairman, Mr Cartan Finegan, said that the growth in tourism placed a demand on these services.
