Stricter controls sought for adventure sports centres

The Government has been advised to regulate instruction in adventure sports and to penalise centres or instructors found to be in breach of safety guidelines.

An inter-departmental committee has found adventure sports to be generally safe, but warns that there can be "no guarantee" against accidents similar to that at Lyme Bay off the British coast in 1993 when four canoeists drowned.

The Association for Adventure Sports (AFAS), which made a submission to the committee, has welcomed the report. However, its chairman, Mr Dawson Stelfox, said that the proposed statutory authority should accept the standards laid down by the national governing bodies. The wider representation recommended on the proposed authority could result in pressure being brought by one sector - such as tourism - to lower existing standards, he warned.

The committee has found that voluntary codes of practice can no longer ensure safety, given the growing number of unregulated providers in this area. Some 325,000 people receive instructions in adventure sports annually, and it is estimated that half of the participants may be under 18 years of age. However, only about 40 of an estimated 180 providers are registered with AFAS.

The report was commissioned by the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, on foot of a private members' bill initiated by the Fine Gael TD and marine spokesman, Mr Michael Finucane. Mr Finucane introduced his Bill after consultation with Mr Michael Davies, father of Ross Davies, one of two young people who died in a canoeing accident at Dunmore East in February 1995.

Ross (14) and Keith Crowley were among a group of eight under the unofficial leadership of a trainee adventure centre instructor.

The committee found adventure sports to be generally safer than many other activities. However, it recommends that a statutory authority be established to enforce new safety guidelines or codes, and that interim measures be undertaken, with Government funding, until such legislation is passed.

The committee says that the statutory body should be modelled on the existing Centre Standards Board, and should be renamed the Adventure Activity Standards Authority. It calls for three members to be nominated by AFAS, in consultation with national governing bodies; two by the providers of adventure sports; four members, including the chairperson, should be nominated by the Ministers for Education and Science, Marine and Natural Resources, Tourism, Sport and Recreation; and one should be nominated by the Health and Safety Authority.

Dr Woods said he would bring the recommendations to Government for a decision in the next two to three weeks.