Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 11 Feb 1997

Vol. 474 No. 6

Written Answers. - EU Instruments.

Joe Walsh

Question:

305 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for the Marine if he will give details of the EU directives, regulations and conventions in respect of which his Department has responsibility and which have not been transposed into or made part of Irish law; and if he will give a timescale for completion of the work in respect of each instrument. [3776/97]

Minister for the Marine (Mr. Barrett)

The EU directives for which my Department is responsible, and which have not yet been transposed, are set out in the following table.

TABLE

Reference Number of Directive	Subject matter
1. 89/662/EEC	Veterinary checks on live bivalve molluscs and fishery products in intra-Community trade.
2. 90/425/EEC	Veterinary and zootechnical checks in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products.
3. 90/675/EEC	Veterinary checks on live bivalve molluscs and fishery products entering the Community from third countries.
4. 91/496/EEC	Checks applicable in intra-community trade in certain fish and fishery products.
5. 91/628/EEC	Protection of animals during transport and amendment of Directives 90/425/EEC and 91/496/EEC
6. 92/29/EEC	Minimum safety and health requirements for improved medical treatment on board vessels.
7. 94/25/EEC	Approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to recreational craft.
8. 94/57/EEC	Common rules and standards for ship inspection and survey organisations and for the relevant activities of maritime administrations.
9. 94/58/EEC	Minimal level of training for seafarers.
10. 95/21/EEC	The enforcement, in respect of shipping using Community ports and sailing in the waters under the jurisdiction of the member states, of international standards for ship safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working conditions — port State control.
11. 95/22/EEC	Animal health conditions governing the placing on the market of aquaculture animals and products.

Preparatory work for the transposition of many of these directives is at an advanced stage and it is my intention that all these will be transposed into Irish law as soon as possible.

EU regulations, once they come into force, form part of Irish law without any need for transposition.

I take it that the Deputy, in referring to EU conventions has in mind international agreements, falling within my Department's area of responsibility which have been signed by Ireland but have not been ratified. An amendment of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, was adopted in London on 29 November 1995 under the auspices of the International Maritime Organisation and was signed by Ireland on that occasion. Ratification is proposed as soon as the necessary implementation measures are in place.

In the field of marine environment, the 1992 Protocols to the international convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, 1969, and the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, 1971, will be acceded to and ratified when preparations, including necessary legislation currently being drafted, have been completed. This proposed legislation will also allow the Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness Response and Co-operation to be ratified.

In fisheries matters, the UN Agreement on Straddling Stocks was adopted in New York in August 1995. The Department of Foreign Affairs is currently taking the necessary steps to allow for Ireland's accession to and ratification of this agreement. It is intended also to accede to and ratify a number of conventions and Protocols, adopted under the auspices of the Brussels International Maritime Law Conventions and the International Maritime Organisation, relating to the liability of shipowners and others. The Merchant Shipping (Liability of Shipowners and Others) Act, 1996, effects the necessary changes to domestic law to allow ratification of these conventions and Protocols.