Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 8 Feb 1996

Vol. 461 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Safety at Sea.

Mr. M. Smith

I am grateful for the opportunity of raising this important matter and I thank the Minister for coming here to address it. Over recent weeks I refrained from raising this matter because of the pain and suffering that tragic accidents at sea have inflicted on bereaved families. I was also extremely anxious to ensure that under no circumstances would these tragic events be turned into a political slanging match. The sheer volume of accidents and consequential loss of life make it imperative for all of us to approach this matter with a new urgency and a clear determination to do whatever is necessary to avoid a recurrence.

Sea fishing is a highly skilled business. It is a hard life and those pursuing it are a special breed who work in a highly dangerous environment. We should never lose sight of the bravery of our men who put out to sea day after day in conditions which most of us could barely contemplate never mind endure.

Apart from maritime skills such as general seamanship, navigation and net mending, the crew of a fishing vessel must know how to maintain and repair large and small diesel engines and hydraulic pumps as well as electrical and electronic installations. They must also have a knowledge of first aid and life-saving. The skipper and crew must be able to do all these things while far away from any shore facilities.

Health and safety in the workplace are dealt with under stringent regulations. While these regulations are effective on the mainland, little is heard of them as far as seafaring is concerned. This is simply not good enough. The management requirements I referred to dictate that immediate action must also be taken on this front.

There are approximately 1,500 fishing vessels in the Irish fleet, not including small unregistered craft found all around our coastline. The fishing fleet, especially the demersal or bottom-trawling fleet, is the oldest in the European Union. It has an average age of between 25 and 30 years. It must be embarrassing for the Minister to preside over such a daunting problem. A fleet with such an age profile has serious implications and consequences for the owners and crews. Their viability compared to the state of the art vessels from EU countries working alongside them, not to speak of the danger and risk involved, must be questioned. It is critical to provide additional resources for a successful decommissioning scheme. Greater emphasis must be placed on financial incentives to ensure a radical overhaul of existing boats where possible, the purchase of new boats and that the practice of buying cast offs from other countries is stopped. I appeal to the Minister to introduce a grant scheme which would facilitate the purchase of safety equipment.

Sophisticated life saving equipment is available including inflatable life rafts, life belts, instruments which identify location, beacons and so on. The tragedy is many boats are not adequately equipped with such equipment and in some cases even the most modern equipment does not work. Economic pressures and overloading are sometimes cited as a possible cause — the effort to make a final payment on a boat sometimes leads to losing all.

There may be a culture among fishermen which does not take sufficient account of the nature of the risk involved. It is vital that we change that culture. We need more recruitment programmes, training and guidance. BIM is to be commended for its efforts in this regard but insufficient resources are available to ensure that new entrants and those involved in the industry have the necessary facilities to deal with the many problems which arise.

The EU Commission President, Mr. Santer, announced earlier this week an additional package of EU funds for research and development. The Minister should apply immediately for an adequate share of this fund to be dedicated to coastal communities. There is urgent need to revamp and strengthen research and development into the marine resource. We do not know enough about the sea or what causes these accidents. It is time we found out.

I request the Minister to introduce, as a matter of urgency, new safety regulations for all seafarers, to tighten up these procedures so far as they affect the responsibility of harbour masters and ensure the results of the review are published as quickly as possible. In the meantime the inspection of boats by the Marine Survey Office is of paramount importance.

I have endeavoured to address some of the more pertinent issues as far as marine safety is concerned. Education, training, refresher courses, enhanced research, changing the culture of unnecessary risk taking and renewing the fleet must feature in a combined and comprehensive approach to this problem. I hope we will place greater value on our marine resource and on the communities who depend on those who face the untamed elements of the sea, tides and weather so that fish may be eaten, moneys earned and communities maintained.

I wish to express my thanks to the Marine Rescue Service and to the volunteers who searched for missing personnel. No words of mine could adequately thank them for their unrelenting efforts, commitment and dedication. My only wish is that new efforts will be made to prevent the loss of life and to obviate the need for daring rescue bids.

Minister for the Marine (Mr. Barrett)

I share the Deputy's concern about these recent tragedies and extend my deepest sympathy to the families and friends of those who lost their lives. I, too, commend the rescue services who proved themselves to be the best in the world and the voluntary effort of the fishing industry and coastal communities who have always been available to assist in any rescue mission. I am particularly perturbed by the frequency of accidents involving fishing vessels to the extent that the tragic loss of fishermen at sea has become a recurring and, in some respects, expected feature of the Irish industry. As Minister for the Marine I am not prepared to accept this as a matter of unavoidable fact.

The Deputy will be aware that, in response to this scourge of our fishing communities, I have recently established a high level-group to review the safety status of the Irish fishing fleet. The Fishing Vessel Safety Review Group is being chaired by Mr. Donal O'Mahony, former Secretary at the Department of Tourism, Transport and Communications. Its membership includes representatives of the Department of the Marine, including the Marine Survey Office and the Irish Marine Emergency Service; the main fisheries organisations, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the Naval Service, the Commissioners of Irish Lights and the Department of Finance.

The review group's terms of reference are: to review the safety status of all categories of vessel in the fleet; to review the status of training for fishermen; to review manning requirements and compliance therewith; to make recommendations on safety requirements to apply in future, together with a suggested timeframe for their implementation; and to assess the financial and sectoral implications of the implementation of the recommendations made.

This review will be the most thorough and wide-ranging examination ever of the Irish fishing fleet. Its purpose is to establish what actions may be necessary to ensure the highest safety standards in the Irish fishing fleet and, ultimately, to reduce the number of tragedies involving fishing vessels. Such is the importance I attach to the review that I have asked the group to complete its onerous task and report to me by the end of May. The Marine Survey Office has already completed an indepth survey of the safety status of a large sample of the fleet. The information gathered in this exercise will be analysed and considered by the review group.

I should point out that, apart from the work of the Fishing Vessel Safety Review Group, the Marine Survey Office is conducting an investigation into each of the tragedies referred to by the Deputy. The purpose of such investigations is to determine the cause of the accident and to make recommendations with a view to preventing similar accidents in future. The outcome of these inquiries will of course be fed into the deliberations of the review group with a view to the lessons to be learned being taken into account in its recommendations.

I am aware that the setting up of the Fishing Vessel Safety Review Group has generated considerable interest and anticipation in the fishing industry, fishing communities, the media and among the general public. I would caution at this stage against any simplistic assumptions being made regarding the causes of fishing vessel accidents, particularly in the absence of definitive supporting evidence.

Safety of the fishing fleet is a multidimensional issue embracing such matters as a safety culture, crew numbers, adequacy of training, equipment, adverse weather, etc. I would regard any effort to focus attention on particular aspects, such as the age of the fleet or the impact of decreasing fish stocks, to be unfounded, pre-emptive and unhelpful. This review must be allowed to proceed thoroughly and with an open agenda so as to ensure that we get it right. Three of the vessels involved in the recent sea tragedies were built in 1983 and would have been regarded as relatively modern, well-found vessels of their type. In addition, comments have been made that there has not been any State investment in the fishing fleet. Under the last Structural Funds package £23 million was invested in fleet modernisation, over half of which was grant aided. Under the Operational Programme for Fisheries 1994-99, £36.2 million is being invested in fleet modernisation of which almost £11 million is EU or national grant aid. Almost 90 per cent of the current fleet modernisation projects have a substantial safety element.

I assure the House that the review group's eventual recommendations will be promptly and thoroughly assessed, and that any necessary action will follow without delay. I have specifically mentioned to the group that if it has interim recommendations to make in the short-term I will be glad to consider these on an urgent basis. If it the case that financial considerations are impacting heavily on safety of fishing vessels, I will certainly look at how the Government might assist the industry in that regard.

The Health and Safety Authority is at present conducting a separate review of the fishing industry from the point of view of the safety of fishing vessels as a workplace and the personal safety of persons working on board. I am confident that the results of this exercise together with the report of the group established by me will bring about a much safer environment at sea for our fishermen.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.20 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 13 February 1996.