The proposed requirement to wear lifejackets on all small boats is badly thought out and unenforceable, writes Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent.
The smoking ban it ain't. However, new legislation designed to save lives on water is causing almost as much consternation within the marine sector, and some confusion as the tight deadline for implementation approaches.
If the Minister for the Marine, Mr Ahern, has his way, he will become the Micheál Martin of marine leisure by this June bank holiday weekend.
That's when he intends to implement rules on compulsory wearing of lifejackets or personal flotation devices (PFDs) on small craft of up to seven metres or 23 feet in length.
All vessels over seven metres or 23 feet must have a lifejacket/PFD stowed for everyone on board, and the regulations also aim to restrict consumption of alcohol or drugs on board pleasure craft.
Lifejackets are already compulsory for fishermen working on deck, and for children up to the age of 16 years on mechanically propelled pleasure craft.
They must also be worn on jetskis. Interviewed on RTÉ radio last weekend, the Minister was unable to give precise statistics for the number of checks carried out by his officials, or the number of convictions in relation to breaches of existing laws.
It would appear that the only relevant conviction to date has been that of a jetskier who was fined €350 for causing a nuisance off the Aran island of Inis Oirr in August 2002 in breach of local bylaws, rather than in breach of the Merchant Shipping Act.
There is method to the new rules, which were drawn up as part of a safety review initiated by Mr Ahern on August 13th, 2002.
Just over two weeks before, on July 28th, 2002, five people lost their lives off the Co Wexford coast when the 26ft angling vessel, Pisces, sank almost a mile from Fethard-on-Sea. None of the 10 on board had been wearing a lifejacket.
Tragically, this one factor probably did more to raise awareness of the need for lifejackets than years of safety campaigning.
However, it also copperfastened the message conveyed in recent years by the Irish Coast Guard itself, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and Irish Water Safety.
In fact, Irish Water Safety has marked this current National Water Safety Awareness Week by producing and distributing a water safety CD-ROM for primary schools.
Sponsored by a private company, Bird's Eye, the CD-ROM targets the 14-and-under group as being particularly "high-risk".
The value of education over legislation was emphasised in submissions made last year on the proposed new rules.
However, there is a question mark over the extent of this consultation, with no published summary available which might back up the Minister's claim that he is responding to an "overwhelming call for a statutory requirement for the wearing of lifejackets".
There's also some confusion over application.
The Minister's press release, issued on May 16th, referred to all craft up to seven metres in length.
The regulations on his website - which did not appear until three days later - refer to "non-mechanically propelled" craft only, which would not include angling vessels on lakes and coastal waters.
Several exceptions have been made. As a windsurfer himself, the Minister recognises that surfboarders could be restricted by lifejacket use, while competitive or "Olympic-style" rowing is also exempt.
The Irish Underwater Council, representing qualified divers, is seeking a derogation for divers travelling to and from dive sites, on the basis that their suits already have sufficient buoyancy to keep them face up in the water for many hours, and that any added weight in transit vessels could pose an additional safety risk.
However, the Irish Marine Federation has condemned the overall approach as "draconian", emphasising the value of education, and calling for abandonment of the 21 per cent VAT rate on safety equipment if the Government is seriously concerned about marine safety.
There is also a question mark over implementing these new rules, when gardaí are already overstretched on land, never mind at sea, and at a time when the Naval Service has not even been given the power to enforce the existing lifejacket laws on fishing vessels.