The Garda Síochána and Department of Marine must co-operate more fully to enforce safety regulations on water, Mr John O'Donnell, chairman of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, has said.
He was commenting after publication of his board's report on the loss of five lives when the Pisces angling vessel sank off Fethard-on-Sea, Co Wexford, last July.
Nine people had paid €150 to be taken out angling by the owner of the boat, Mr Paddy Barden, of Fethard-on-Sea. Five of them died in the tragedy.
Mr O'Donnell said he welcomed the Minister for the Marine's action in implementing the report's main recommendations. These were sent with an earlier draft to the Minister last December, and include a stipulation that operators of unlicensed passenger vessels should be investigated and prosecuted, if found to be acting illegally. The report also recommends better enforcement of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1992.
Speaking at a press conference in Dublin, the MCIB chairman said there had to be a change in attitude among Irish people and people on Irish waters in relation to wearing life jackets.
The report on the sinking of the 26ft wooden boat off Fethard-on-Sea on July 28th last year concludes that the vessel was lost because it was "unseaworthy, overloaded and unstable".
It foundered because of "rapid and serious loss of stability" when water accumulated under and on the deck.
The bilge pump in the aft section of the vessel, where water would have accumulated initially, was not fitted with an automatic float switch and would only operate when switched on manually.
The report found the boat took water because of the "very poor condition" of the hull and deck, and modifications to it resulted in a freeboard of only three inches.
The vessel did not carry enough life-saving applicances, in terms of life jackets and a life-raft, and the death toll could have been higher if it had not been for the quick response and actions of Mr Tommy Roche, skipper of the St Coran, who picked up the skipper's distress message.
Four men and one teenage boy drowned and five were saved in the incident, including Mr Barden.
Those who died included three generations of the same family: a New Ross undertaker, Mr James Cooney, his son-in-law, Mr Séamus Doyle, and his grandson, Mark Doyle, along with two family friends, Mr Martin Roche and Mr John Cullen.
The five survivors included the vessel's skipper and owner, Mr Barden, who was trapped in the wheelhouse and swam to the surface from the seabed, 13 metres below.
The report says the Pisces did not hold a passenger boat licence and would not have qualified for one if it had because of its configuration, poor condition and lack of safety equipment. The skipper/owner contends there was safety equipment on board, including two lifebuoys and one life jacket.
Mr Barden and the vessel's previous owner, Mr Robert Chapman, have challenged the board's contention that the vessel was unseaworthy.
Both state in contributions to the report that the boat could have sustained damage when it hit the seabed and when it was subsequently salvaged by the Irish Lights vessel, Granuaile, working with Naval Service divers.
The report confirms that the wheelhouse was demolished during the lift when it was caught between two airbags. However, the board does not agree that the vessel was damaged during the lift.
The MCIB chairman said the first draft of the report had been sent to the Garda Commissioner, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the State Solicitor for Wexford, among other bodies, and all had been informed that they could have copies of the final report.
Mr O'Donnell said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on any matter relating to the DPP.
However, as reported in yesterday's Irish Times, the DPP's office had asked for a delay in publishing the report until it decided whether to prosecute or not.
