The Minister for the Marine, Mr Fahey, has been urged to implement fully the safety recommendations made by a Government review group and published four years ago.
The call by the Fianna Fail TD for Donegal North-East, Ms Cecilia Keaveney, follows the recent deaths in Irish waters. Measures proposed on mandatory safety training "cannot be long-fingered," Ms Keaveney said.
This is the worst year for loss of life in fishing in a decade, with 27 deaths to date off the west and south-west coasts. Twenty of the victims were of Spanish, Portuguese, French or west African nationality, and seven were Irish nationals or Irish based.
Five fishermen have died off the Cork coast in the past 10 days - the four crew of the St Gervase from Castletownbere and a young deckhand from Millstreet, Co Cork, who had been fishing on the Union Hall vessel, Sceptre, for only a few weeks.
The Department says it has no immediate plans to introduce legislation on the issue. However, it says that its policy of encouraging the industry to take advantage of "high quality, easily accessible training facilities", in association with Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), may have to be reviewed "in light of the recent fishing vessel tragedies".
The Irish South and West Fishermen's Organisation, the IS&WFO, says that most fishermen are very safety conscious and already undertake training, but that the problem is wider and relates to a severe shortage of crews.
The organisation is helping its members to recruit crews in Eastern Europe in an attempt to ease the crisis, which is forcing some vessels to tie up. It also called for tax allowances and a short-term fuel subsidy in the Budget.
The 1996 Fishing Vessel Safety Review group was established by the then Fine Gael Minister for the Marine, Mr Sean Barrett, after one of the worst years for casualties in 1995. Among the 18 who died that year were six Donegal crew members on the Carrickatine from Greencastle. No trace of the vessel or of the fishermen was ever found.
The group, chaired by Mr Donal O'Mahony, made 63 recommendations and many, including renewal of the whitefish fleet, have been implemented. Almost 200 vessels have also availed of grants for safety equipment.
Last week Ms Keaveney called on the Minister, Mr Fahey, to examine a safety buoy devised by one of her constituents, Mr John Kelly of Moville, Co Donegal, which can help in locating missing boats.
