Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 November 2021
216. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Transport further to Parliamentary Question No. 75 of 23 June 2021, if further consideration has been given to the fact that although there have been no complaints lodged by full-time professionals of the Irish Coast Guard, there is no effective mechanism to record complaints or grievances by volunteers. [54526/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe doctrinal document in relation to HR-related matters involving the volunteers is the IRCG Code of Conduct. In 2019, IRCG completed a review of this Code which includes the Grievances and Appeals procedure. This review was done with the assistance of an external HR consultancy in order to ensure its procedures were fair and fit for purpose for an organisation like the IRCG with over 900 volunteers. This review also involved a consultation process involving the volunteers which was managed through the Coastal Unit Advisory Group (CUAG) - the representative structure for the volunteers.
The result of this review was a new Volunteer Code which was launched in November 2019 with a programme of training rolled out over the course of 2019 to ensure the process and procedures were clearly understood and implemented correctly and uniformly.
The Coast Guard's Code was recently reviewed by an external professional HR consultancy and its procedures are deemed to be best practice. In the event of difficult HR cases external professional advice is sought to assist with the cases and adherence with procedures and also to provide mediation or team building and training on HR management.
