At 08.30 hours on 28 May 1993 the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre of the Irish Marine Emergency Service was notified that a number of birds, coated with oil, had been washed up on the beach at Clogherhead, County Louth. All the relevant Search and Rescue — Pollution Control agencies were alerted. Aircraft and shipping in the vicinity were asked to report any oil sightings. An Air Corps Cessna aircraft and the UK Marine Pollution Control Unit carried out aerial surveillance. However, despite the intensive efforts made no trace of an oil slick was found nor no possible culprit identified.
The circumstantial evidence point to the incident having been caused by an accidental or deliberate discharge of oil by a transiting ship. The results of the surveillance operation indicate that the offending vessel was well out of range before the effects of the pollution came to notice. Ireland pursues "the polluter pays principle" on the basis of which the culprit is required to pay for damage caused and clean up operations. Unfortunately, in this case those responsible for the travesty cannot be identified.
Air surveillance of the Irish Sea is carried out by the UK and Irish authorities using sophisticated oil detection equipment. A Memorandum of Understanding with the UK authorities to formalise joint co-operation and assistance in the event of marine emergencies involving search and rescue and pollution control is being finalised at present. The MARPOL Convention, which Ireland will shortly ratify, regulates the discharge of ships' waste at sea and the provision of facilities at ports for the handling of such waste. As I have explained, however, the culprit in this case appears to have been a transiting vessel and not one calling to an Irish port.
Yesterday, the EC Transport Council of Ministers adopted a Resolution outlining priority measures for a Community action programme on maritime safety and pollution prevention. My main priority in this context is to press forward with comprehensive precautionary measures to protect the ecologically sensitive Irish coastline through the introduction of minimum exclusion zones for transiting tankers and other ships carrying dangerous cargoes.
