Our Organisation

Aerial view of a coastal operations building near a beach, with vehicles and personnel visible outside

Coast Guard Units and support

The role of this section is to manage a nationwide maritime emergency response through 44 local units. These teams of professional volunteers respond to search and rescue incidents to locate and recover people in danger and bring them to safety.

Operations officer seated at a control desk, monitoring multiple screens showing maritime data and live camera feeds

Operations

The operations section provides 24-hour coordination for all search and rescue and maritime pollution incidents. Watch officers in our three rescue centres monitor emergency radio frequencies and task helicopters, boats, other assets and services to respond to emergencies.

Rescue helicopter flying at low altitude over land, with forested terrain in the background

Aviation operations

Our aviation service provides six AW-189 helicopters and two Beechcraft B200 King Air aircraft to support rescue missions from the air. These crews carry out inland and sea searches, support the health service with medical flights for island communities, and monitor the marine environment.

Preparedness, response and planning

This section is responsible for protecting our coastline from pollution and managing maritime casualties. The team creates national plans to deal with oil spills and works with local authorities and ports to ensure Ireland is ready to respond to environmental threats. This section also supports Coast Guard operations by running training and exercises for dealing with major incidents.

PRP helps to responds to ships in trouble and coordinates efforts to stop marine pollution. Its work is guided by several laws, including the Sea Pollution Actos 1991-2006. These laws allow the Minister to appoint Coast Guard officers to act when a ship incident could cause serious pollution along the Irish coast.

Aerial view of a remote coastal facility with buildings, access road, and communications masts overlooking the sea

Engineering and logistics

The engineering and logistics section builds and maintains the vital radio and technology networks that allow our rescue centres to communicate. This includes 19 VHF radio sites around the Irish coasts, a national digital paging system, two VHF test sites, four MF radio sites and two NAVTEX transmitter sites. All of these systems are linked to the Rescue Coordination Centres in Dublin, Malin Head and Valentia. The Engineering team also maintains the radio and IT systems for the ship-tracking system known as AIS. They also manage our central stores, ensuring all staff and volunteers have the protective clothing and equipment they need.

Two personnel checking and handling handheld radios at a charging and storage station

Safety and quality compliance

The role of this section is to make sure every part of the Coast Guard works to the same high standards. They manage our safety systems to ensure we meet all legal requirements and provide a consistent, reliable service to the public.