A new law makes it compulsory to wear a life-jacket, but water safety is still a big issue, writes Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent

Mention "nanny state" and the name of a tireless health minister may spring to mind. However, several months before Minister for Health, Micheál Martin signed the new anti-smoking legislation into law, one of his Cabinet colleagues signalled the introduction of new rules which could have generated far more debate about personal freedom, choice and responsibility.

That they didn't is partly to do with politics, and partly to do with the fact that this is one of the few islands in Europe where over half the population is not intimately connected with the sea. Also, the timing for the announcement was good - just before a bank holiday weekend. When the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Dermot Ahern, said that he would be drawing up new regulations to make use of life-jackets mandatory, it was a year after the loss of five lives in the Pisces angling boat accident off Fethard-on-Sea, Co Wexford. None of the victims had been wearing any sort of flotation device.

Currently, life-jackets must be worn by commercial fishermen on deck, and by children up to the age of 16 years on mechanically-propelled pleasure craft, by jet ski operators and on certain categories of commercial passenger boats. Under Minister Ahern's new regime, all occupants of small open craft will have to wear a life-jacket. The only exceptions will be surfboards and boats used in competitive rowing.

The Minister said that he had asked his officials to examine carefully "various enforcement options", but stressed that cooperation would be required from the marine leisure sector and from individuals. That there hasn't been one prosecution before the courts to date in relation to the existing mandatory rules wasn't mentioned in the statement. This State does not have a coastguard, though there have been repeated demands for the remit of the Naval Service to be extended to such inshore duties, and the resources of the Garda Síochána are over-stretched. Quite simply, without voluntary cooperation and a "safety culture", the regulations are unenforceable.

But then legislation lets politicians off the hook, and saves on giving adequate resources towards training and education to underpin a developing safety culture. Even where compulsory legislation has been imposed here concerning the wearing of seat-belts, a survey carried out last year by the National Roads Authority showed that still only 72 per cent of drivers wear their safety belts compared with the previous study in 1999 which showed only 57 per cent compliance. This still falls a long way short of 89 per cent compliance in the UK.

A recent international survey, conducted by a group of US consultants after the World Congress on Drowning in Amsterdam last year, looked at the US situation, where some states have chosen to introduce mandatory use of life-jackets or personal flotation devices (PFDs) among boaters - and where use by children is required in all states. However, its research showed that Tasmania is the only jurisdiction where all adults must wear a life-jacket.

Ireland, Norway, Singapore, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain have legislation requiring carriage of sufficient jackets or PFDs on board vessels, the research noted, but Britain, Sweden and Germany have very little regulation for leisure boating. In Britain, leisure craft under 13.7 metres long aren't even required to carry them.

The survey quotes a representative of the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), who said that there was a "very strong perception of the importance of personal freedoms in Britain, and very particularly in the leisure boating world". Education, rather than legislation, was the approach favoured, and this was echoed by a representative of the Royal Life Saving Society. It is an approach that seems to pay off, because Britain has the lowest incidence per capita of drowning in the world.

As for Sweden, one respondent there explained that there was a strong belief in voluntary actions, and such compliance was currently far too low to consider introducing legislation. Voluntary compliance must have 50 to 60 per cent support before legislation can be brought in successfully, the Swedish respondent pointed out.

Irish Water Safety, based in Galway, welcomes any initiative that will save lives, but is wary about the value of the legislative route. The US Coastguard, which is dealing with a highly-regulated situation, recently awarded a grant to manufacturers of PFDs to fund a new boating safety project; it did this because it found that in spite of all its efforts to enforce the rules, less than 25 per cent of the US boating public wore life-jackets while on water.

"Education is by far the most important factor required in drowning prevention," Lieut Cmdr John Leech, chief executive of Irish Water Safety, says.

States around the world that have invested most in education to prevent drowning have the lowest drowning rates per capita, he says, citing World Health Organisation statistics to back this up.

In Holland they have been teaching members of the public water safety since 1767, while in Ireland the Red Cross began its education programmes in 1945, he says. "Prior to that there was little or no water safety education on this island." Aquatics is now on the primary school curriculum. "It amounts to approximately one hour per week of the curriculum. Elements of the syllabus are classroom-based and the remainder is in the swimming pool." In the long term, this will further reduce the number of drownings here.

"Ten years ago in the leisure craft sector, very few people wore PFDs or life-jackets on board," Lieut Cmdr Leech points out. "This past summer, anecdotal evidence suggests that almost 50 per cent of the public are wearing them. This is as a result of strong education and training programmes being implemented by bodies such as the Irish Sailing Association, Irish Underwater Council, Irish Canoe Union, Irish Sea Kayaking Association."

In addition, other bodies such as Waterways Ireland, the Health and Safety Authority, yacht clubs, the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, RNLI, Coast Guard, Irish Boat Rental Association and many other groups have promoted the use of PFDs. Drownings in the marine leisure industry amount to approximately 20 per cent of all accidental drownings each year.

"The balance of personal freedom of a leisure pursuit against mandatory wearing of life-jackets needs to be considered very carefully. Countries like our nearest neighbours have no legislation for the mandatory wearing of life-jackets and there are no firm proposals to legislate for it that I am aware of, yet they have the lowest rate of drowning per capita of any island nation in the world. Perhaps we should look more carefully at their model," Lieut Cmdr Leech says. "It works."