Coastguard service may take control of inland water safety

The Garda Siochana may be asked to hand over official responsibility for inland water safety to the new national coastguard service, according to a report which is due to be published today.

The current rescue structure is too weak to cope with the upsurge in interest in the inland waterways, the report by the National Safety Council states.

It is calling on the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, to transfer responsibility for this to the Irish Marine Emergency Service, which is due to be transformed into a coastguard by the end of this year.

If accepted by the Minister, the safety council recommendations would have major implications for the new coastguard service - both in terms of personnel and increased funding.

The safety council says the IMES is already "among the best in the world", and a person running into difficulty in the water has a better chance of being rescued off the coastline than in a river or lake. "It is a matter of concern that the same standard of rescue facilities does not apply to our inland waters," the council says. It says a rescue service for the Shannon system is particularly important and long overdue.

Responsibility for responding to incidents on the Shannon and other inland waterways currently rests with the Garda Siochana.

The gardai also have responsibility for incidents offshore to the 12-mile limit, but IMES, under the Department of the Marine, has a statutory role.

The Government should not wait for a major incident to occur before taking action to remedy weaknesses, the report says.

The increase in activity is reflected in the fact that some 3,044 boats used the Shannon last year, and some 9,031 boat weeks were rented out - often to inexperienced users. It is estimated that there can be 2,000 boats on the Shannon and lake systems on any good weekend. The safety council recommends extension of the jurisdiction of IMES to inland waters on an equal status to its coastal work.

IMES assists in inland rescue as a second priority, and has the facility with the response time of the new helicopter system to offer inland cover. The report also urges that the current maritime VHF service be extended to inland waters, with monitoring by one of the existing coast radio stations in Dublin, Valentia or Malin.

It says the four helicopters deployed for coastal rescue - two medium-lift at Dublin and Shannon, and two Air Corps Dauphins at Finner, Co Donegal, and Waterford - should respond to inland incidents as an equal, rather than secondary, priority.

It recommends that local authority defence units be given a supporting role in shore rescues, and that community inshore rescue services should be established at specific locations, similar to those around the coast. VAT relief on equipment should be considered to encourage this.