Vol. 438 No. 4
159 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for the Marine if he has satisfied himself that the port authority and the Dublin local councils have taken sufficient efforts, through the Dublin Bay Management Plan, to prevent a major marine pollution incident in Dublin Bay; and the proposals, if any, he has for the further protection of Dublin Bay and the Irish east coast from polluters.
A range of preventive and contingency measures to minimise the possibility of a major marine pollution incident in Dublin Bay and environs are in place and are kept under continuous review.
Monitoring, inspection and traffic management systems are operated by the Dublin Port authorities for ships carrying dangerous or polluting cargoes. The objective of these preventive measures which are in line with current international standards is to minimise the risk of pollution from traffic operating into and out of the Dublin Port area. Initiatives under way at EU level to develop enhanced management and reporting systems for such traffic as well as for transiting vessels will, when finalised further enhance our ability to minimise the threat of such pollution incidents in the first place.
Contingency planning, in the event of a major marine pollution incident, has been developed for the Dublin Bay area under the aegis of the Irish Marine Emergency Service of the Department. IMES is responsible for the direction and co-ordination of marine pollution response and oversees the development and exercising of major marine emergency contingency plans by port and local authorities together with other relevant agencies. A wide ranging training programme for local and port authority pollution personnel is also ongoing under the direction of IMES.
