LIGHTHOUSES MAY become self-financing and lose their British subsidy if the recommendations of a joint British-Irish report are implemented.
The consultancy study – commissioned by the British and Irish departments of transport – also suggests that leisure craft over a certain size should pay a contribution towards marine navigation.However, this would only work if there was a compulsory register of leisure craft, rather than the existing voluntary system, according to the report.
The Atkins report on the lighthouse services says that over half the cost of the Irish network is being subsidised from British sources.
The three general lighthouses authorities for Britain, Ireland and the Channel Islands are paid for through “light dues” collected on merchant shipping using ports. Dues are calculated on the tonnage of ships.
The cost of the Irish lighthouse and marine navigation service has increased in recent years, partly due to the euro-sterling exchange rate, and higher wages, the report notes.
Less than €5 million in light dues from shipping was collected in the Republic in 2008-9, compared to running costs of more than €16 million for the service. The Department of Transport also makes a contribution.
The lighthouse service is automated, with staff assigned to offshore maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and other aids.
Some 19 per cent of aids of navigation are on the Irish coastline, and the Commissioners of Irish Lights (CIL) has some 29 per cent of all staff.
The CIL is an all-island body which was held up as a model of cross-Border co-operation in the 1998 Belfast Agreement, the report notes. However, it states that light dues collected from shipping generally have fallen by 50 per cent in the past decade and savings will have to be made.
It makes some 50 recommendations – including a separate financing model for Ireland – which would be developed on a transnational basis.
This would result in two separate general lighthouse funds for the two islands, which would be underpinned by legislation from 2014-2015, it suggests.
The report states leisure craft could pay a contribution. Ideally, this should be based on a compulsory register of yachts, it notes.
The CIL describes the report as “an excellent long-term blueprint for ensuring continuing maritime safety”.
“In this our bicentenary year, it should be noted that CIL’s long history has been dedicated to the safety of the mariner,” CIL chief executive Dr Stuart Ruttle said.
“Safety is always our overriding concern. But we are also very aware of our obligations to government and the shipping industry to minimise costs and to deliver value for money. Many of the recommendations in this report can be implemented quickly. Others will prove challenging and we will need to consult widely . . . before deciding how to proceed.”