Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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In 2021, 102 people were drowned in this country, giving Ireland one of the highest rates of drowning in western Europe. It is almost double the rate in Denmark, it is double that of Germany, double that of Italy and double that of the Netherlands. It is significantly higher than Portugal and the UK and is double that of the North of Ireland. What will the Minister do to ensure we reduce our drowning rates?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising this matter. Water Safety Ireland, WSI, is the statutory, voluntary body and registered charity established to promote water safety and reduce drownings in Ireland. Water Safety Ireland’s remit includes public awareness and education. It strives to reduce drownings by changing attitudes and behaviours so that our aquatic environments can be enjoyed by all with confidence and safety.

The drowning rate in Ireland has been steadily declining over recent years. In 2012, the annual figure was 144 and in 2022 the number that was reported was 84. Our five-year average is currently 91 drownings per year. Each drowning, as we all know, is a tragedy for all those involved. That is why we must continue to work at keeping the level of drownings as low as possible every year.

The national drowning prevention strategy 2018-2027 sets out how Water Safety Ireland aims to reduce the number of drownings in Ireland by targeting at-risk groups. It focuses on five pillars, namely, education, awareness, training, intervention and action. In the strategy, there is a strong focus on ensuring that every child in Ireland has the opportunity to learn basic water safety skills in both primary and secondary schools. A number of initiatives have been introduced in recent years. The hold hands programme has been rolled out in early learning centres. The primary school programme, primary aquatics water safety, PAWS, is now a component of the Department of Education’s primary school curriculum. This year, Water Safety Ireland added a module to the junior cycle physical education curriculum, which is called GET WISE: Water Safety Insights and Education, which complements an existing water safety programme for secondary schools.

Internationally, in 2022, Ireland and Bangladesh introduced a UN resolution on global drowning prevention. A new UN day for drowning prevention is now recognised on 25 July. In 2023, I launched Water Safety Ireland’s strategic development plan 2023-2027. This will work in conjunction with the national drowning prevention strategy to continue to address the number of drownings.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I am afraid the Minister did not answer the question, which is about how we will deal with the situation that Ireland has a significantly worse rate of drownings than many of our western European counterparts including, significantly, a drowning rate that is double that of the North of Ireland, which is on this island. It is significantly higher than the UK.

I will give the Minister a few clues. They have lifeguards in the North of Ireland from April to October, but we have them for June, July and August. This is a simple thing. It would cost money to local authorities, but they should spend it to save lives, by having lifeguards available with the equipment. Here, our lifeguards are given a whistle. Everywhere else, they are given all-terrain vehicles, defibrillators and radios and they are employed on proper terms and conditions.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Ireland does not have the worst drowning rates in Europe. In fact, countries such as Lithuania and Latvia have considerably more, but any drowning is just awful. I live in Monaghan where there are a lot of lakes. There are a lot of lakes in Cavan; there are 365 of them, actually. I am very well aware of the dangers of our water systems, both those at sea and on lakes in inland counties.

Northern Ireland does not have full-time coverage from Easter to September. The service builds in a phased approach starting with a small number of beaches being patrolled from the Easter school holidays, increasing through the season until the peak school summer holidays. All Blue Flag beaches require lifeguards for all weekends in June here in Ireland, full-time in July and August and again for weekends for the first two weeks in September. Some countries have busier beaches, and they extend that weekend coverage in June to full time.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I did not say we had the worst in Europe, I said we have among the worst in western Europe. Countries that do have busier beaches have a much better record on drownings than we do. Italy is better than us. Portugal is better than us. The North, as I said, is better than us. The UK is better than us. Belgium is better than us, and significantly so. This is because their lifeguards have proper equipment and they are employed for a much larger part of the year.

The lifeguard who explained all this to me said that part of the problem is that Water Safety Ireland, which the Minister mentioned, is responsible for giving advice and promoting water safety, but the lifeguards are employed by the local authorities, which do not want their budgets to be impacted. Therefore, the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing and there is a conflict of interest between the local authorities’ budgetary considerations and water safety. That needs to be addressed so we can improve the situation where more people in this country are travelling than in many of our neighbouring countries.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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We all want to reduce the number of drownings. Sadly, I know it all too well, it will not just be a matter of one drowning. A family member may go out and it could unfortunately end up being two people in the same family who drown. That has happened on many occasions.

I am happy to work with Water Safety Ireland. As the Deputy knows, I will meet the chairperson shortly and I will raise the points he raised. There are two pieces here. The local authorities have responsibility for the lifeguards and Water Safety Ireland has the responsibility for training, creating awareness and encouraging people to participate. My own children went to Water Safety Ireland, which ran courses to train children in inland counties about lakes. I have to say they got wonderful training. It does provide a great service. We will continue to support that but I will raise the issues and I take on board the concerns the Deputy has raised with me.