Vol. 540 No. 1
79 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the funding his Department provides for the Irish Water Safety Association; if he plans to provide additional funds or resources for the association, having regard to the pressures put on it by the growth in marine leisure activities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17392/01]
84 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the main findings of the Beach Safety Report 2001; the steps which are being taken to ensure that the recommendations of the report are complied with; the action he will take arising from the finding in the report that some local authorities had failed to act on recommendations to improve safety and prevent drownings at beaches; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19709/01]
302 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the main findings of the Beach Safety Report 2001; the steps being taken to ensure that the recommendations of the report are complied with; the action he intends to take arising from the finding in the report that some local authorities had failed to act on recommendations to improve safety and prevent drownings at beaches; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20082/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 79, 84 and 302 together.
Irish Water Safety prepared and published its recent Beach Safety Report 2001 at my request; a copy is available in the Oireachtas Library. The report provides valuable guidance for local authorities and other bodies in relation to safety at beaches and bathing places, and I welcome it accordingly.
The Beach Safety Report makes recommendations which address a range of issues including the making of bye-laws by local authorities in relation to the management of beaches and bathing areas; the importance of the role and functions of water safety development officers in local authorities; the identification and sign-posting of dangerous beaches; the zoning and supervision of bathing areas at major resorts; and the provision of lifeguards and lifeguard equipment.
These recommendations are directed principally at local authorities, and Irish Water Safety has made copies of its report available to them. In addition, my Department has written to local authorities emphasising the importance of carrying these recommendations into effect.
Attention has been drawn in the media to a statement in the report to the effect that recommendations of beach surveys have not always been acted upon by local authorities. Such surveys would normally be carried out by Irish Water Safety at the request of local authorities. I understand from Irish Water Safety that this statement was never intended to convey the impression that local authorities had failed either to identify and sign inherently dangerous beaches, or to address other major risk factors. The reality is that the statement was intended to refer to relatively minor recommendations within beach surveys, such as the location for a ring-buoy stand or the format of signs.
