The national executive of the Irish Coast Guard Volunteers Representative Association says it is giving “full support” to Oireachtas members from County Clare who have called for an independent inquiry into Irish Coast Guard management.

This refers to an article in the Clare Champion newspaper quoting Clare TDs and Senators in a cross-party political call for an inquiry.

“We would like this to include the Minister of State with responsibility for the Irish Coast Guard, Ms Hildigarde Naughton TD; the Department of Transport including the Maritime Directorate and the Secretary General of the Department of Transport,” the Representative Association says.

It refers to a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee last May when its members submitted “problems faced by Coast Guard volunteers, particularly when any problems arise within Coast Guard coastal units.”

The Association says, in a statement, that “only a truly independent inquiry can address the questions that need to be addressed.”

“it is time to bring a just solution to the dismissed volunteers that would like to present their own individual case before any independent inquiry.”