Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

An issue we should bring into the shared island considerations is that of water safety. We have a lot to learn from what is happening in the North and in the UK. It may be of interest to Members to know that 102 people drowned in 2021 in the Republic of Ireland. This is one of the worst rates of drowning in western Europe and three times the rate of drowning in the UK and the North of Ireland. As a lifeguard who came to my office in the last couple of weeks to raise these issues pointed out, one of the reasons is because lifeguards here, for the most part, are only provided for the months of July and August. In the UK they are provided everywhere from Easter to October. In the UK, including Northern Ireland, there is a proper centralised authority, the RNLI, which by the way, is based in Swords but manages Northern Ireland's water safety. It has dramatically improved it. Critically, they are given the equipment they need. A lifeguard here is on the minimum wage and is given a whistle. In the UK and the North, lifeguards are given a whole range of equipment. They are provided with defibrillators, special vehicles to move along coastal and surf areas, radios and so on. As a result of the changes they have made, they have dramatically improved water safety. It is quite alarming that of the 102 deaths that occurred here, just under 50 were of people taking their own lives. If we exclude those figures, as Eurostat does, we have a rate of drowning that is considerably worse than most of the rest of western Europe. It is not even clear who is in charge because when I submit questions about equipment to local authorities, which provide the equipment, those questions are refused because they say Water Safety Ireland is responsible. When I put questions to Water Safety Ireland, it says that the local authorities are responsible for the provision of equipment and the employment of lifeguards. This is a very serious issue of water safety and people's lives. I ask the Taoiseach to look into it and learn from the experience in the North of Ireland.

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