I thank all Members who contributed to this debate for their general welcome and support of the Bill. First let me deal with the matter of penalties and fines, an issue raised by a number of contributors.
The objective of the OSPAR Convention — which the provisions of this Bill will enable us to ratify — is to protect the marine environment by incorporating principles established in international environmental legislation. One such principle is that polluters pay; they are held liable for damage caused. That is the policy of this Government. In respect of serious offences, the Bill provides for unlimited fines of such amount as the court deems appropriate on conviction on indictment, taking into account the cost of remedial action, five years' imprisonment, or both. I specifically made a decision not to put a limit on fines in regard to serious offences because of the potential cost of rectifying any damage caused to the marine environment. I hope that the possibility of substantial penalties on conviction will be an effective deterrent to would-be offenders. It is our intention to invoke the full rigours of the law where offenders are not so deterred and the fines to be imposed could run to millions of pounds.
The fine of £1,500 to which Deputies referred relates only to minor offences under the Bill. It is in line with fines in comparable legislation and has been provided for in the Bill on the advice of the Attorney General's office.
Regarding enforcement, the Deputies will note that the Bill designates Naval Service personnel ex officio as authorised officers. The Government is satisfied that the resources available to the Naval Service and Air Corps over recent years will enable proper surveillance and enforcement. I assure Deputies however, that our operational capacity to carry out this work will be kept under constant review, with a view to ensuring that we meet all our responsibilities under the legislation and OSPAR Convention.
The Bill also provides for the appointment additionally of officers of my Department i.e. scientific personnel, marine surveyors, sea fisheries officers, staff of the Marine Survey Office and harbour masters generally to be authorised officers.
Deputies generally voiced considerable concern in respect of three main issues: the impact on the Irish Sea of radioactive emissions from the THORP plant; the impact on local marine areas of chemical and other weapons dump sites in the Irish Sea and in the North East Atlantic generally and the alleged dumping of radioactive waste material in areas adjacent to the Irish coast.
In relation to all three issues, Deputies expressed doubt about the comprehensiveness of the information given to us by the UK Government on locations, volumes and the nature of dumped materials; they were also concerned about whether we can be satisfied that monitoring and management of dumped materials and sites can be carried out in an effective and transparent way. It was asked whether we will ever know the full truth. That is a hard question to answer; however, I am hopeful that the opportunities afforded by the OSPAR Convention and the need to prepare quality status reports will allow for more active co-operation and better and more open disclosure of the facts. In the meantime, we will maintain pressure on the UK authorities through political, administrative and scientific channels.
I assure Deputies that we will be vigilant at all times in ensuring that all the facts are produced in an accurate and timely manner and that no attempt is made to withhold information. I am reassured by the interest taken by environmental groups in the UK and Northern Ireland in bringing out the facts and lobbying for action. We are beginning to see some results from this activity and no doubt from pressure put on the UK Government by the Irish Government.
I appreciate that we are talking here about materials which have been dumped in the past — even before the Oslo and Paris Conventions were mooted. However, much can be done through the OSPAR Convention. The concept of the quality status report constitutes a very important means of affording a comprehensive check-up on the state of our seas and oceans. It also has the advantage of being subject to standards and methodologies set by the OSPAR Convention. The recent disturbance of munitions as a result of pipe laying by British Gas highlights the need for strict management and monitoring of the munitions dump sites used in the past.
We will be pursuing a two-track approach of minimising, through more information, monitoring and management, the impact on the marine environment of materials already dumped, and ensuring that no new harmful materials and substances are added in the future.
Deputies raised the point that opinions are divided on the ability of the sea to absorb dumped materials. Inevitably, interests will produce scientific evidence to indicate that adverse effects are minimal. As I mentioned in my opening speech, our knowledge of the seas and oceans is limited and it behoves us to take no chances about things we dump. Indeed, the OSPAR Convention enshrines this "precautionary principle" in its text. The convention's clearly articulated approach is to take no chances; if there is a danger that sea dumping is likely to damage the marine environment, then the environment should be given the benefit of the doubt. That is why we are banning outright the dumping of disused offshore installations.
More specifically as regards Sella-field, I wish to inform the House that the Government is pursuing an energetic strategy on the whole nuclear industry. One of the things we have to realise is that the British nuclear industry and the British Government will not close the plant, resulting in lost profits and more local employment, purely because of protests from this country. It is a very big industry employing a large number of people.
We must pursue this issue through the various international fora e.g. through the EU, IMO and the OSPAR Convention. We have received wide support within the IMO for stricter control on the carriage of nuclear substances by sea; the OSPAR Convention prohibits the dumping of radioactive wastes resulting from the nuclear industry.
An inter-ministerial committee on Sellafield and the Irish Sea has been established to progress Government policy in this area. One of the initiatives of this Committee is to seek a review of the EURATOM Treaty which governs EU policy in relation to nuclear issues, to place greater emphasis on health, safety and environmental aspects. High-level diplomatic approaches have been made to the authorities in countries where their utilities either have or are contemplating signing reprocessing agreements with THORP, expressing Ireland's concerns about the operation of this plant. These contacts will serve as a foundation for ongoing high level diplomatic efforts on the nuclear issue with the countries concerned.
I should remind Deputies that the Bill before the House deals only with dumping at sea issues i.e. dumping from vessels, installations and aircraft. It will, however, prohibit the dumping at sea of radioactive waste resulting from the nuclear industry.
Deputies raised a number of other issues, drugs, the state of our hydrographic charts, pollution from ships by oil and garbage and discharge of raw sewage in coastal waters.
The National Drugs Co-ordinating Committee is energetically addressing the problem of drugs supply and the Department of the Marine will participate fully in this work. My Department's input will be to assess how the assets and intelligence available to the Department of the Marine can be utilised and deployed to do just the kind of thing the Deputies suggest, i.e. to use all the eyes and ears available to gather intelligence on the activities of persons and vessels involved in this most despicable and damaging trade.
On the question of the state of the hydrographical survey of the Irish coast, my Department asked the Marine Institute to address the issues raised in the submission to the seminar on marine policy in Cork. The institute has produced a set of ideas to redress the situation and these are the subject of discussions between my Department and the Institute. I hope to be in position to consider some solutions to the problems posed by the state of our navigational charts.
Deputy Hugh Byrne raised his concern regarding pollution from ships by oil and garbage. Ireland is a party to MARPOL 73/78. The Sea Pollution Act, 1991, gives effect to MARPOL and this Act and its regulations prohibit or control the operational discharge of garbage, oil and noxious liquid substances from ships through the establishment of operational discharge criteria and vessel construction and equipment. The marine surveyors of the Department of the Marine are empowered to inspect any vessel while it is in the State or within our territorial waters to make sure that it is in compliance with the provisions of MARPOL. If a marine surveyor is not satisfied that the ship is in compliance with the terms of MARPOL, then he may detain the vessel until such time as any defect is rectified.
Many Deputies raised concerns about the discharge of raw sewage to coastal waters. I must point out to Deputies that the Bill before the House deals exclusively with the regulation and control of dumping at sea. Dumping by Dublin Corporation. Ireland's only authorised sewage sludge dumper, is being phased out and will be terminated by the end of 1998. Alternative land-based methods of treatment and disposal are being developed by Dublin Corporation with that timeframe in mind.
The Government is committed to tackling the problem of discharges of raw sewage to coastal waters by means of a major programme of investment in sewage treatment facilities around our estuaries and coasts. Under the terms of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, secondary treatment will be required in all cases by the end of the year 2005.
The size of the task facing us is best illustrated by the fact that only 14 per cent of sewage discharges are currently connected to secondary treatment plants. As some 80 per cent of sewage wastes discharge to the marine environment, the vast bulk of the £1.3 billion investment programme required under the Directive will be spent in estuarine and coastal areas. Taken with the dispersed nature of our population, it is clear that a major programme of works covering numerous locations will be implemented over the next decade.
The overall planning and financial framework for this is being established by the Minister for the Environment with the detailed planning and implementation being the responsibility of local authorities. I am confident that the level of investment involved will lead to significant improvements in the quality of the waters around our coast. Points made by Deputies on later Stages will be considered and any improvements proposed will be carried into the Bill. It appears that all Deputies are united in the wish to enact legislation which will be seen by all as a progressive and effective means of discharging our obligations of stewardship of the marine environment. I thank the Deputies who contributed to this very constructive debate.
