TDs representing the south-east of the country are meeting today to express their concern over the future of the region's Coast Guard service.
There's speculation the search and rescue helicopter base in Waterford could be cut when the new tender process concludes next week.
The contract suggests reducing the number of rescue helicopters in Dublin, Shannon, Sligo and Waterford by one.
Sinn Féin TD for Waterford David Cullinane said the county's geography requires its own base.
"If you look t the south east and you look at Waterford it has many beaches, it has a coastline, it has mountains, and that's where a lot of the calls are responded to.
"There was a 15% increase in call outs and response that were tasked by the Rescue 117 service from the south east last year"
