OVER two years after the Castletownbere ferry accident, Ireland can pride itself on having some of the toughest marine safety standards in the EU.
Yet not one single offshore island has better transport, and the Government's new safety rules threaten to cut existing links, Comdhail Oileain na hEireann, the Irish Island Federation, has said.
The "extreme zealousness" with which Department of the Marine surveyors have been applying the new safety standards has "seriously undermined" the viability of many ferry services, the federation said. The new standards were introduced after the Castletownbere ferry accident in which four people died in February, 1994.
Tighter standards which cost owners money to implement were "questionable" when some islanders still depend on currachs for transport, the federation says. Uneven application has also led to uncertainty and confusion, it said. Without subsidisation, the number of licensed ferry runs to islands would drop off, it warned.
Many of the problems stem from the fact that the regulations were more appropriate to large ocean going vessels, it said.
Currently, qualification for the relevant ticket under the 1992 Merchant Shipping Act for class, A2 vessels entails eight years continental seagoing experience, and the equivalent of two full time six month courses, as well as various other requirements. Consequently, most of the ferries running to the Aran islands are skippered by semi retired people, and in other areas skippers with relevant fishing qualifications are granted temporary permits at the direction of the Department of the Marine.
Stricter implementation of these measures will force islanders who have run their own boats for generations, and know their own waters intimately, to become dependent on outside skippers.
"While the flexibility shown by the Department to date on this is fully acknowledged, it is time for a recognised and appropriate ticket to be made available for skippers of smaller ferry boats," the federation said. Appropriate training should also be provided.
Those ferry services which do receive State funding were answerable to at least three different agencies, and there was a need for a co ordinated approach, the federation said. However, any subsidisation should also involve a charter of operations, and an independent service audit, carried out at least annually, to ensure that there was reliability, accountability, safety and quality.
Ferries should be based wherever possible on islands them selves, the federation said. The Government's interdepartmental committee on offshore islands should appoint a small number of officials to look into every aspect of ferry services, and to provide a comprehensive report, it said.
The federation was also seeking a pilot subsidisation programme for the worst affected islands this year.
Comdhail Oileain na hEireann represents 25 offshore islands, including Rathlin, and administers a Leader II programme for both tourism and environmental projects, like recycling.
The federation recently helped to fund a survey by the Centre for Island Studies on Clare Island, Co Mayo, which found that the fragile environment of many offshore communities is threatened by pressure from tourism.
Island populations during the holiday season increased 12 fold, according to a census carried out for the survey in August, 1995.
