ABOUT 2,000 deckhands on fishing boats around the coast will benefit from PRSI changes which have resolved a glaring injustice, according to sea safety campaigner, Ms Joan McGinley.
A court ruling five years ago said the deckhands should be regarded as self employed for social welfare purposes. This was because of the traditional share system in the industry, where fishermen share in the profits their boat makes rather than getting a fixed wage.
The effect of the ruling was that workers in one of the most risky occupations of all were not entitled to occupational injury cover and other benefits.
This anomaly has now resolved by what Ms McGinley describes as a "decisive" intervention last month by the Minister for Social Welfare, Mr De Rossa, although it came almost a year after he promised immediate action.
Mr de Rossa used a European Court of Justice ruling to change the way fishermen are treated by the social welfare system.
Under the new interpretation, the workers are eligible for all benefits and pensions "in the same way as an ordinary employee, except where clearly self employed", according to the Department.
Ms McGinley, who recently accused the Department of the Marine of neglecting fundamental safety issues, says the changes will have a big impact on safety at sea.
In recent years skippers have found it increasingly difficult to attract skilled, experienced deckhands because of the lack of social welfare cover. This forced them to rely on younger, less experienced fishermen, thus increasing the risks, she says.
Another side effect of the changes will be that it will draw more fishermen into the social welfare net, and help to regularise an industry notorious for its links with the "black" economy.
This aspect of the changes has not found favour with all skippers, who are worried about the cost to them of the employer's PRSI levy.
Meanwhile, the Department of the Marine is expected to announce its long awaited plans for implementing wide ranging recommendations on safety.
It is understood that these will contain moves to improve radio coverage around the coast, with the provision of new stations at Rosslare and Belmullet.
An increase in funding for training is also planned, and more staff for the Department's marine survey office and radio survey office. These offices monitor the seaworthiness of boats and equipment.
A safety review group, set up after two fishing tragedies in November 1995, came up with a £19 million plan which the Minister, Mr Barrett, has promised to implement.
They include a recommendation that all vessels engaged in commercial fishing should be surveyed by the Marine Survey Office. Their owners should be required to take any necessary steps to remedy deficiencies in safety.
"Vessels under 12 metres in length, which represent 65 per cent of the Irish fleet, require particular attention in view of the large number of incidents involving such vessels," the plan says.
Fishermen should also be able to satisfy the Marine Survey Office that they have received basic safety training, "in survival at sea, firefighting and prevention and first aid". Training courses held by Bord Iascaigh Mhara should be expanded.
When the plan was published last June, Mr Barrett welcomed it as the most thorough and wideranging review ever" of safety on fishing vessels.