A new independent agency, along the lines of the EPA and the Health and Safety Authority, is to be established to take over all aspects of marine and water safety.
The agency will also oversee water rescue, and pollution, the Minister for the Marine, Mr Ahern, has decided.
Staff in Coast Guard stations and the Maritime Safety Directorate have been informed of the changes, which should mean a more effective and seamless service, according to a spokesman for the Department of the Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.
The new body, it is hoped, will "move the safety agenda onto a new plane and create greater public awareness". Senior advisors from the Department of the Marine will speak to staff at the Department's Marine Rescue Control Centres at Valentia, Co Kerry, and Malin Head, Co Donegal, over the next two weeks.
"The Minister feels the marine safety services need to be more autonomous," the spokesman said.
"Setting these services up under an independent body with strong statutory powers outside the aegis of the Department would achieve this."
If anything, the new agency would mean better funding and there would be no cutbacks, he added.
The agency arises from recommendations in reviews on marine rescue and safety carried out by consultants.
A recent review of the Coast Guard, carried out by Deloitte and Touche, also recommended the closure of one of the three Coast Guard Stations at Valentia, Malin Head and Dublin. However, it is now believed any closure is unlikely
The Cabinet has been informed of Mr Ahern's decision and he has requested his department "to prepare as quickly as possible the necessary details to establish an independent body with all the statutory powers to deliver on its remit", according to a memo from Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Marine, Mr Maurice Mullen, e-mailed to the Coast Guard and the Maritime Safety Directorate, which was obtained by Radio Kerry.
In the July 17th e-mail, Mr Mullen reassured staff that the changes needed to be carried through would be undertaken in "partnership mode".
As well as "developments" locally in safety, recent international incidents had highlighted the need for a more streamlined service to tackle pollution as well as safety.
The experience of the sinking of the Prestige oil tanker off the north-west coast of Spain last November "highlighted the importance of providing a seamless co-ordinated and holistic safety service", Mr Mullen said.
Importantly, bringing all safety services together would lead to greater public awareness and enforcement and would lead to a "culture of safety" in Ireland.
The agency would be a regulatory body with a wide range of licensing functions. It will play a high profile role in all aspects of search and rescue in both marine and inland areas, maintain the national shipping registers relating to all vessel and craft types, develop new enforcement capabilities on the ground, and be effectively a one-stop-shop for all marine and water-safety related matters.