Crab and HC, I didn't ask about the regulatory regime so that we could descend into classic pprune willy-waving. I asked in the hope that it might contribute to our understanding of the aircraft being out near Black Rock, and possibly on a long approach, if someone who understood the regulatory regime that applies to the Irish Coastguard contract were able to clarify what applies to flights of this nature.
On UK SAR, there is a distinction between SAR flight and non-SAR flight and the detail of that distinction continues to develop. I know that the Irish regime is different but I do not know the details.