Although the debate title refers to South Down, the issue applies equally to my constituency. The sea rescue helicopters play an invaluable role in air-sea rescue and can continue to do so, given the opportunity. We bring the matter to the notice of the Assembly so that Members can register their concerns.

The withdrawal of the helicopter will have a devastating effect upon all search and rescue teams in Northern Ireland. They do a superb job, but, at times, they depend on the helicopter service. The helicopter is an integral part of local air-sea rescue operations. It is prepared for active service 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. During daylight hours, the helicopter can be ready in 15 minutes. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency business plan sets out the following requirements:

Can those standards be met if the service is taken away from Aldergrove? We believe that they cannot.

It is certain that lives will be put at risk by the withdrawal of this service. A major concern in my constituency is the safety of fishermen on the County Down coast, specifically those from the Portavogie area. They work in the open sea every day, and the job of the fisherman is one of the most dangerous. Many of us, especially those from the Strangford constituency, will recall with sadness the sinking of the Amber Rose off the Isle of Man three or four years ago. The services of the Wessex helicopter were required on that occasion. It was successful, as on previous occasions, in tracing and rescuing survivors. The helicopter is by far the most effective and efficient way of getting injured people to hospital. Time is critical when life is in danger.

If people get into difficulty out at sea, the services of the Wessex helicopter at Aldergrove can be called upon at very short notice. The response will be immediate. If the service is withdrawn, we will be forced to depend upon helicopters from Prestwick airport in Scotland, if there happen to be any available. Will that helicopter be able to get people to hospital as quickly and as efficiently as our trained team from Aldergrove?

The retention of the service is also important to the tourist trade. The air-sea rescue services are frequently called upon during the summer months, due to the increased number of visitors to the area and on the sea. For example, the Ards Peninsula is the second most popular area for caravanning in the Province. Many visitors to the Ards Peninsula go there because of the variety of water sports and other activities available at Strangford Lough and on the Irish Sea. Many visitors use boats and have an interest in fishing. Unfortunately, every year people find themselves in trouble, and the services of the Wessex helicopter are often required. If the service is withdrawn, the lives of those visitors will be put at risk.

Everyone recognises that the main use of the helicopter is at sea. Another important role that the Wessex helicopter performs is in mountain rescue. What impact will the withdrawal of the Wessex helicopter have on those who find themselves in dire straits in the Mournes? The Wessex team has great experience and knowledge of flying across Northern Ireland, including the Mournes. A helicopter crew from Scotland will not have the same knowledge or be on the scene in the same time; it will have to cater first for problems in Scotland.

Lives will inevitably be put at risk, which is neither advisable nor acceptable. The plan to withdraw the Wessex helicopter represents a worrying development, and I suggest, Mr Speaker, that the Assembly contact the Secretary of State for Defence and urge him to rethink this disastrous move.

Regarding the matter that the Member mentioned at the end of his speech, it is my practice when there are debates in the Assembly which refer to non-devolved matters to send a copy of Hansard to the Minister involved. I propose to do so following this debate.

I want to thank my Colleague Mr Jim Wells for raising this matter. The issue has an impact beyond his own constituency and would have a detrimental effect on a number of coastal areas in Northern Ireland, not least my own constituency of Strangford. I am not an expert on helicopter search and rescue, but I know, even if I never have to use this service, that it provides a necessary and important emergency service function.

What we do not want is to be left with the equivalent of 'Budgie the Helicopter' - a great story of fictional deeds, but not to be depended on for anything real. In all the literature that I read on the subject, one line of an article stood out:

That is an important remark about the service that is currently enjoyed. Here is an honourable record provided by members of 72 Squadron. Another comment that is also significant says

The key phrase there is "can not consistently rely". This is what happens when it is not possible to utilise our own helicopter service. You find you are at the mercy of others who can decide according to their own priorities and may well not be able to help out. When you put those two statements together you have an overwhelming argument for not only the retention of our own service but also for updating and upgrading that service.

I understand the comment that the helicopter that is currently in use is now somewhat out of date and, in certain circumstances, inadequate. However, that is an argument for upgrading the service, not removing it.

Some may ask if there is much justification for this service. I suggest asking those whose lives have depended on being rescued. Even more so, try asking those who could not get a helicopter from Scotland to help them in a number of rescue missions.

Search and rescue has a number of areas to cover. Take the leisure industry and the increase in sailing around the coast. Is this not a reason for retaining our search and rescue service? There is also mountaineering. How often have we heard about climbers caught out in bad weather having to be rescued? Is this not a reason for retaining our search and rescue service? There are those who have fallen off cliffs, and the only way to get to them was by helicopter. What about the fishing industry? At times, it is a very dangerous activity. Again, how often do we hear of a sick fisherman having to be airlifted to hospital for emergency treatment?

Over the years many lives have been lost, but many have been saved because of the search and rescue services. What we are dealing with here is life. Has it become so unimportant that we can afford to have our helicopter service provision simply removed without any objections?

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak in this important debate, and I congratulate Mr Wells for bringing it forward. This matter was discussed at a Newry and Mourne District Council meeting, where it was unanimously agreed that the helicopter rescue service should be supported and maintained, given our historic links with Mourne.

The air ambulance and helicopter rescue service has been in use for many years, and it would be greatly missed. It would be a huge mistake to have the service withdrawn. In addition to the efforts of the helicopter rescue team, there have been occasions when the Army has been called out in extreme emergency conditions and has rescued, or rendered assistance to, mountaineers or people who have been caught at the top of a mountain without adequate resources. There is clearly a need. The Mourne Mountains are world-famous. They are also extremely dangerous at times, and there is a clear requirement for this service to be retained.

An air ambulance service is also essential for Northern Ireland. I have written to Adam Ingram and the Minister of Health. No one can decide whose responsibility it is. I simply say that it should be sorted out and the provision made as quickly as possible. There is a need for both a helicopter rescue service and an air ambulance to support health provision in the area. We are dealing with a mountainous rural area which is subject to adverse weather conditions. Only a matter of weeks ago, a group was stranded in the Mourne Mountains and had to be rescued. This is a constant and pressing need, and I commend Mr Wells for bringing it to the attention of the Assembly.

I too thank Mr Wells for bringing this important issue to the Floor of the Assembly. The matter was first brought to my attention by Newry and Mourne District Council, which supported a motion to retain the service. I was then aware that it was going to be taken further by my Colleague Mr Wells in the Assembly Chamber. As Mr Wells said, I, along with other Members, raised the issue with the Security Minister, Adam Ingram. The Minister wrote back to me saying that he had passed the letter on to the Health Department. The Health Department then wrote to me stating that it had passed the letter back to Adam Ingram.

Evidently there is confusion as to who is responsible. It is important that we find out exactly who is responsible for this matter. I believe that it is the responsibility of the Security Minister, Mr Adam Ingram - but we will find out. I am sure that your office will find out, Mr Speaker. It is also clear that all those who are involved in this area are fully in support of the Adjournment debate today. The issue is made all the more important by the fact that the service based in Prestwick will not readily be available for work in Northern Ireland should something happen in its area. In an emergency you cannot sit around and wait for a couple of hours to see whether a helicopter is going to be sent from the mainland. By the time help arrives, it will be much too late.

The Minister responsible should take up this serious issue and pursue it until there is a satisfactory outcome and until the requests from this Chamber are carried out. If we cannot rely on provision from the mainland, we will be in a much worse position if we do not have a local provision. Local provision in this area is crucial. We have a local fishing industry, with ports that are in operation along the coast, a thriving leisure industry and a number of marinas. It is therefore only sensible to retain for ourselves an air-sea rescue operation. Until now, that provision has never been in doubt, and it has never been faulted. The service personnel have always been professional in their duties.

We now have the serious and worrying development that there will not be an air-sea back-up in Northern Ireland after 2002. That is not a matter that can be left in limbo. It is imperative that the decision be taken to maintain the service for the good of all the people in Northern Ireland.

I support what Mr Wells has said. For many years Northern Ireland has watched as public services have been contracted until we have been left with a second-rate service that cannot usually deliver the goods. I think particularly of the Health Service with its long waiting lists for hospitals. Here is another example of the contraction of public Government money, which will leave us with a second-rate air rescue service.

I represent the Strangford constituency. We have a long coastline, with a most important fishing fleet at Portavogie. Mr Shannon will bear witness to the fact that a member of Ards Borough Council is a trawler owner who will quote instances of the treacherous seas in which he has often had to operate. However, he is secure in the knowledge that should something go wrong there is a very good chance of the air-sea rescue service's coming to his aid. For that to be moved away from Northern Ireland to Prestwick, from where it will not be possible to deliver the service, should worry the Assembly.

Moreover, during the summer many people in the Strangford area use pleasure craft. Sometimes those people are not by any stretch of the imagination experienced sailors, and they can quite often - and very easily - get themselves into difficulty at sea. We hear cases of people putting out to sea who have not even the right lifesaving equipment on board. The air-sea rescue service plays a very valuable role when that happens.

I am disturbed to hear from Mr Wells that the present air-sea rescue facilities have no winch material to enable them to operate at night. That should concern the Assembly, and, as has already been said, we should look for the system to be upgraded rather than for its removal.

Finally, I must draw a contrast between the Ministry of Defence, which has a huge budget and is reducing the service it provides, and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, which depends upon voluntary contributions to keep it going. It is continually striving to expand its services, not to reduce them. If a voluntary organisation like that can and does expand its services, based solely on the money it manages to raise, surely to goodness the Ministry of Defence with its huge budget can find the money to keep that very valuable and much-needed service here in Northern Ireland.

I have no hesitation in supporting Mr Wells.

I support not only the continuance but the enhancement of an air-sea rescue facility - as the proposal so subtly put it - not only in South Down but in other areas where it is needed, and that means the entire territorial area of Northern Ireland, because we know not where tragedy will strike.

Members have covered all the salient points concerning our fishing industry and the risks that the Irish Sea poses, which have from time to time been very considerable for commercial seagoers as well as for the fishing fleet. Mr Hamilton spoke of the enormous number of visitors to the Strangford Lough area and to the marinas along the Down coast and up to Antrim and beyond where, year on year, pleasure craft get into difficulties and require urgent and immediate rescue. It is hard to conceive of a situation where that facility would not be available.

Other Members have indicated the tourist element of the requirement for such a service. The south-east area of Northern Ireland has the highest number of tourists visiting and engaging in outdoor pursuits - as opposed to lying on a beach, as they are wont to do in other climes. When tourists come to our locality they are more active. Activity, be it in the sea, in the forests or in the mountains, of which we have an abundance, carries physical risk with it. The rescue services, on land, sea, or in the air must be available to us.

There is also the normal requirement of the general community for such a facility. Circumstances, such as the recent snowstorm or the breakdown of electricity services, sometimes dictate the need for the rescue services. I have mentioned the breakdown of electricity services to the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. This occurs with monotonous frequency in the area that I represent. Many people are totally dependent on the supply of energy, and when that is suddenly cut off they are at immediate risk. A helicopter rescue service would be much speedier than that provided by road and would be required. For all of these reasons it is necessary that a helicopter service be available in South Down.

Another concept that I have been pursuing for some time, which would fall within the ambit of the devolved Administration, is the provision of an air ambulance service to Northern Ireland. I believe that this is equally necessary for our own community, never mind the visitors to our shores. We do not have a great transport infrastructure, particularly in South Down, where it takes many hours, especially in summertime, to get an emergency case from the Mourne area, or from the east Down area, to a medical centre of excellence. The retention of acute service facilities at our hospitals is continually put into doubt.

All these factors add up to the necessity for the provision of an air ambulance. I must keep to the topic or you will be looking at me, Mr Speaker. However, this is a very necessary broadening of that concept. Several private companies would be quite willing to provide such a service on an economic basis if the Departments involved could take that on board.

For all those reasons I totally support this case, as would my Colleagues from South Down in other parties, some of whom cannot be here today.

I have been corresponding for some months with the Northern Ireland Office as, in my opinion, there is no doubt that this is a reserved matter and their responsibility. There has been great hesitancy in replying. The Northern Ireland Office has not denied its responsibility, as on other occasions. In fact, it is holding up the operation until it can come up with a good reason for saying no. It is our job to ensure that that does not happen.

However ill I may think of other people, I cannot conceive of any Department, be it a Westminster Department or a Department in Northern Ireland, denying the community the services of an air rescue operation of some nature. I am confident that the representations made here today, our concerted efforts and, indeed, the articulation the community has made in many quarters about this matter will win through. We must keep up the pressure. On behalf of myself and my Colleagues who are abroad I am happy to give total and whole-hearted support this case.

Mr McGrady, with his customary elegance, has highlighted that Adjournment debate subjects are constituency matters and that Members should stick to their terms.

It is too late.

Indeed.

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