Lifeguards working on beaches and inland lakes during the summer will be given communications equipment as part of a new liaison agreement with the Irish Marine Emergency Service (IMES).
Some 15 local authorities have signed up to the initiative, according to the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, who released the details at the weekend in advance of the local elections - and before all the agreements had been concluded.
A spokesman for the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources confirmed yesterday that agreements with Clare, Mayo, Leitrim, Meath, Louth, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin county councils were still being worked on. Each authority had to be dealt with individually, and this took time, he said.
Dublin Corporation has come on board, along with 14 county councils, including Fingal, Dublin, Wicklow, Waterford, Wexford, Cork, Kerry, Galway, Donegal, Sligo, Westmeath, Longford, Kilkenny and Tipperary North Riding.
The lifeguards, who are accredited by the National Safety Council and employed by the local authorities, will co-operate with the 600 volunteers of the IMES coastal units. They will be trained in contacting and working with IMES in emergency situations.
The agreement is the latest in a series secured by the IMES as part of its expansion into a shore-based coastguard, and its extension to inland waters.
Welcoming the move, the Minister, Dr Woods, said that the initiative "would allow IMES and the lifeguards to support each other in emergencies, by enhancing alert and early warning systems and combining rescue skills and facilities where necessary".
