I refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 38 of 20 October 1999, in which I outlined my plans to implement the recommendations of the interdepartmental working group which I set up to carry out a review of the safety regulations in adventure-activity centres, the report of which I published in June of this year. The interdepartmental working group considered that there is a case for a form of statutory regulation of safety in adventure centre activities in Ireland and recommended the establishment of a new statutory authority to manage the regulatory scheme.
The aim of the new authority should be to encourage high safety standards, particularly in that part of the sector which has not participated in the existing voluntary approval schemes run by the centre standards board of the Association for Adventure Sports – AFAS – and the Irish Sailing Association.
I welcomed the group's recommendations and in July I secured Government approval to establish the new statutory authority. Work is progressing within my Department with a view to introducing the necessary legislation to establish the new statutory authority as early as possible next year. I am conscious, however, that setting up the new authority and putting in place statutory codes will take some time. It is very important that existing voluntary schemes not only continue in operation but are enhanced and extended in the interim. With this in mind I recently provided a grant of £30,000 to the centre standards board of AFAS to maintain and expand its work to provide an effective approval scheme pending the establishment of the new authority.
My Department is working with AFAS to prepare the ground for the new statutory authority. As part of this process, AFAS will carry out a consultation process, including hosting a major seminar for national governing bodies and providers early next year, with the aim of achieving consensus on the best way forward in Ireland. I would encourage all national governing bodies, centres and organisations involved in adventure activities to associate themselves with the interim measures with a view to extending their coverage in advance of the statutory scheme.
