I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
The need to bring this Bill before the House arose from a Supreme Court judgment of July last, which upheld a High Court decision of October 1995, to the effect that the powers given to the Commissioners of Irish Lights under the 1894 Merchant Shipping Act could not be interpreted to include the provision of radio-based aids to marine navigation which were unknown when the Act was introduced.
The commissioners currently provide a range of radio aids to navigation. All modern aids to navigation are based on the transmission and reception of radio waves. The primary purpose of the Bill is, therefore, to give the necessary powers to the commissioners to enable them to continue to provide such modern technological aids in the interests of maritime safety. The Bill also makes further necessary provisions in relation to the functions of the commissioners. I propose to deal with the main provisions in the Bill later, but it would first be useful to place the Bill in context by outlining the statutory background and powers of the commissioners.
The legal basis for the operations of the Commissioners of Irish Lights dates an Act passed by the Irish Parliament in 1786. That Act created a "Corporation for preserving and improving the Port of Dublin" whose functions were, as its title suggests, the maintenance and development of Dublin port. In 1810, subsequent to the abolition of the Irish Parliament, the British Parliament passed the Lighthouses (Ireland) Act which gave the corporation all powers, duties and functions relating to the control of lighthouses around the coast of Ireland.
The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, established a "Port of Dublin Corporation" to superintend and manage the lighthouses in Ireland and the adjacent seas and islands and from then on the corporation, when exercising these powers, acted as separate and distinct from the "Corporation for preserving and improving the Port of Dublin". The Dublin Port Act, 1867, gave formal legal recognition to this state of affairs by severing the two bodies. The Port of Dublin Corporation was given the new name of the "Commissioners of Irish Lights" but retained its constitution as laid down in the original Irish Act of Parliament of 1786, while the other corporation became the "Dublin Port and Docks Board", with its own constitution.
The constitution of the commissioners, which is effectively still the same today as laid down in the 1786 Act, provides for the election of 17 members who are nominated by the body itself as vacancies arise. It also provides that the board of the commissioners shall comprise three representatives of Dublin Corporation, whose successors are nominated by the corporation, and the Lord Mayor of Dublin ex-officio. Under the Irish Lights Commissioners (Adaptation) Order, 1935, which legitimised the functions of the commissioners in the Irish State, the election of a new commissioner by the body itself can be disapproved by the Government. However, this power has never been exercised.
The current powers of the commissioners derive from the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894. Under this Act, the superintendence and management of all lighthouses, buoys and beacons in Britain and Ireland are vested in three bodies known as General Lighthouse Authorities. The Commissioners of Irish Lights is the General Lighthouse Authority responsible for providing and maintaining aids to navigation throughout the 32 counties of Ireland and its adjacent seas and islands. Likewise, Trinity House serves England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, and the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses are responsible for Scotland and the Isle of Man.
The Act gives the Commissioners of Irish Lights powers to provide lighthouses, buoys and beacons and enables them to purchase any land which may be necessary for the exercise of their powers. The overall control of local lighthouses, buoys or beacons provided by individual harbour authorities is also vested in the commissioners. In addition, the Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Wreck) Act, 1993, gives the commissioners powers in relation to the marking and removal of wrecks which are a danger to navigation, where no harbour authority or local authority has the power to do so. This Act repealed the relevant section in the 1894 Act which dealt with wreck and salvage matters.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights are somewhat unique in so far as their remit covers the entire island of Ireland. The services provided by the Commissioners of Irish Lights and the other two lighthouse authorities are financed from one source — the general lighthouse fund. This fund derives its income principally from light dues levied on commercial shipping at ports in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Light dues collected from shipping traffic at Irish ports are, however, insufficient to meet the cost of the elaborate system of lights required by Ireland's geographical position. Under an agreement reached between Ireland and Britain in 1985, the Irish Exchequer pays to the general lighthouse fund an annual supplement towards the cost of the service provided by the commissioners in the State.
It is important to recognise the onerous task with which the Commissioners of Irish Lights are charged. They are statutorily responsible for aiding the safe passage of mariners in and around the entire inhospitable coastline of Ireland which covers over 2,000 miles. More than 75 per cent of Irish imports and exports rely on our sea routes and the commissioners are responsible for the protection of this vital lifeline to and from the outside world. It should also be remembered that, in addition to inshore sea traffic trading to and from Irish ports, aids to navigation provided in Irish waters are used by a high percentage of vessels plying some of the world's busiest shipping lanes from North America to Britain and mainland Europe.
In this era of rapid technological change the role of coastal aids to navigation is changing. Traditional visual aids such as lighthouses and buoys are, however, still an essential part of marine safety as the location of hidden or underwater dangers must always be clearly identified. Lighthouses and buoys have been modernised in line with technological advances. The automation of all lights under the control of the commissioners will be complete when the Bailey Lighthouse is demanned in April and all buoys are now solar powered. As technology advances, the lighthouse will come to be thought of more as a hazard warning rather than a point-to-point aid to navigation around the coast. Radio navigation systems provide the enhanced position fixing accuracy required by modern shipping. The speed of vessels is increasing and there is a greater risk of marine pollution.
The varied nature and topography of the Irish coast requires a mix of traditional and modern aids to navigation to guide seafarers. The commissioners carefully select each aid to navigation to mark a particular local danger or hazard while ensuring that these aids link up with adjacent aids in order to form a comprehensive chain of navigational aids all around the coast.
The commissioners provide not only traditional visual aids such as lighthouses and beacons but also a variety of modern electronic aids which allow vessels to determine their position by interpreting radio signals from transmitters on shore. The four types of electronic aids provided by the commissioners are radio beacons; radar beacons — known as racons; radar target enhancers and the differential global positioning system — DGPS.
I would like to briefly outline the manner in which these radio systems operate. Radio beacons are radio transmitting stations which operate in the low and medium frequency bands and provide ground wave signals from which ships can obtain their bearings by means of direction finding receivers. Racons are radio navigation devices which allow ships' radar to identify the geographic location of the device. Radar target enhancers are devices which automatically transmit a signal in response to an interrogating signal received from ships' radar. The purpose of these devices is to improve the radar return signal from navigation marks and to improve radar detection of small craft so as to reduce the risk of collision. DGPS improves the accuracy of the satellite global positioning system-GPS which is a navigation service operated by the United States. The DGPS involves having, at precisely known locations, reference stations which provide real-time corrections to the signals of GPS. Differential corrections are transmitted by radio beacons to any user of the GPS who is near a reference station.
The commissioners have provided radio aids to navigation since 1931. They currently operate 25 such aids around the coast of the Republic of Ireland. However, as I indicated earlier, the courts have ruled that these systems are ultra vires the powers of the commissioners under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894. In 1979 the UK amended that Act to provide for the inclusion of radio aids to navigation in the powers of General Lighthouse Authorities in their jurisdiction.
The role of the commissioners is clearly of the utmost importance, involving as it does accident prevention, pollution avoidance and, above all, safety of life at sea. It is vital, therefore, that the commissioners be given the necessary statutory powers to continue to provide modern aids to navigation in the interests of maritime safety. It is against this background that I now wish to outline the main provisions of the Bill before the House.
The Bill rectifies the legal deficiencies identified by the courts by giving the commissioners, in relation to maritime navigation, powers to construct, operate and maintain radio navigation systems. It also allows the commissioners to purchase land for this purpose. The Bill validates the provision of radio navigation systems in the past. The commissioners provided these systems in the interests of maritime safety.
The Bill also provides that the commissioners shall be responsible for superintending and management of all maritime radio navigation systems. As indicated earlier, the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, vested the superintending and management of all lighthouses, buoys and beacons, including those provided by harbour authorities, in the commissioners. It is, therefore, considered appropriate that this Bill should extend the commissioners' management function to cover radio aids to navigation in this jurisdiction in the same way that they are responsible for such aids in Northern Ireland.
The Bill provides that the commissioners may, with the consent of the Minister for the Marine, co-operate with other agencies, including a competent authority of another jurisdiction, in relation to the provision or operation of radio navigation systems and any services relating to maritime navigation, safety, distress, wreck location, pollution or related matters.
This provision recognises the fact that international co-operation is of vital importance in the provision of aids to navigation and in relation to maritime navigation in general. There is, in this regard, ongoing co-operation between the Commissioners of Irish Lights and the two General Lighthouse Authorities serving England, Scotland and Wales. The three General Lighthouse Authorities are at present developing closer planning and operational functions.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights are represented on the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities. This association promotes co-operation between lighthouse authorities and the co-ordination of worldwide standards in relation to aids to navigation matters.
It was considered prudent to also allow the commissioners to co-operate with other agencies in relation to the provision of services relating to wreck location, pollution or related matters. This could be of particular benefit in an emergency where the commissioners' light tender ship may be able to provide assistance to the Department of the Marine or other competent authorities. I should mention in this regard that the Irish Lights tender Granuaile played a prominent role in the search for the FV Carrickatine which was tragically lost off the Donegal coast in November 1995.
The Bill also contains a provision which gives the commissioners power to make financial contributions towards the funding of bodies concerned with maritime navigational assistance. This power may, however, only be exercised with the consent of both the Minister for the Marine and the Minister for Finance. The Commissioners of Irish Lights currently make financial contributions to the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities in respect of their membership of that body.
A further provision in the Bill allows the commissioners, for gain or otherwise, to enter into agreements, with the consent of the Minister, for the provision of maritime navigation systems on behalf of harbour authorities and for the performance of services relating to maritime navigation, safety, distress, wreck location, pollution and related matters.
The need to include this provision arose following legal advice received by the UK Department of Transport which indicated that the maintenance of a third party's buoys is ultra vires the powers of Trinity House, the general lighthouse authority throughout England and Wales. This advice also applies to the Commissioners of Irish Lights with regard to the provision of such services to third parties such as harbour authorities. The commissioners currently maintain in excess of 50 lights and buoys within harbour limits. The Bill validates services provided by the commissioners to harbour authorities to date.
Legislative action is also being taken in the United Kingdom in this regard. A Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Bill, currently before the British Houses of Parliament, contains a similar provision which will allow General Lighthouse Authorities to enter into agreements with third parties.
In order to cater for possible future developments in technology I have taken this opportunity to include in the Bill a provision enabling the Minister for the Marine to confer on the commissioners appropriate additional functions in relation to maritime navigational matters. The Bill stipulates that orders made in this regard shall be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas and may be annulled by a resolution of either House.
This Bill is very necessary legislation. It will, if enacted, update the powers given to the commissioners under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and allow them to continue to provide modern technological aids to navigation to enable ships, fishing vessels and pleasure craft to sail our waters in safety.
Before I recommend this Bill to the House, I would like to refer to the Loran C long range radio navigation project. As Members will be aware, the Supreme Court ruling of 18 July last arose, in effect, out of a legal challenge to the commissioners' powers to proceed with the erection and operation of the Loran C long range radio navigation system. Ireland's participation in Loran C was provided for in an international agreement between this country, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and France which was duly approved by this House on 8 October 1992. The terms of this agreement, as approved by the Dáil, included an undertaking by Ireland that a Loran C radio mast would be erected in the south-west of Ireland as an essential link in a system of nine masts stretching from the north of Norway to the south of France.
Prior to the approval by the Dáil of this agreement, an extensive radio mast site selection study had been undertaken by the Commissioners of Irish Lights with the assistance of a firm of consulting engineers, the University of Wales and the head of the north-west European Loran C programme management office. System coverage predictions and a detailed set of guidelines informed and guided a detailed geographic and geophysical study of 40 possible sites. This study led the team to select the site currently envisaged for erection of this mast at Loop Head. The detailed guidelines required, inter alia, that the site be both extensive and flat with no adjacent mountains or hills; also, that it should be in an area of low population density and be removed from other major public infrastructures and power lines. The Loop Head site was regarded by the team as that which best met the detailed selection criteria developed in advanced of the study.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights, acting as agents of the Minister for the Marine and on foot of the above mentioned site selection study and the approval of the Dáil of the international agreement, subsequently applied for and obtained on 4 November 1994, on appeal to An Bord Pleanála, planning permission to proceed with the erection of the mast at Loop Head, County Clare.
Deputies will be aware that the commissioners have been unable to proceed with the project because of litigation connected with both relevant marine and planning legislation. The House will also be aware that, since the approval by the Dáil in 1992 of the Loran C agreement and the completion of the planning process in 1994, considerable disquiet has been expressed about visual and health aspects of the mast at the chosen site and, more fundamentally, whether we should be party to the agreement in the first place. Claims that the system was a threat to health, infringed our neutrality, constituted a damaging environmental intrusion and was already obsolete were levelled against the proposal. The intensity with which these claims were pursued contrasted with the lack of substantive public or political debate in 1992 when our national policy in relation to Loran C was being decided. Thus the current debate, being dissociated in time from the original decision, suffers from having no public channel or forum through which these issues, which are of real and legitimate concern to many people, can be aired and informed.
I regard this state of affairs as unsatisfactory, potentially damaging and inconsistent with the need to ensure the maximum practicable level of public information and consultation. I wish to inform the House, therefore, that I am not satisfied that the Commissioners of Irish Lights should proceed with the project without first allowing an informed and structured public debate on the issue. I am also conscious that, notwithstanding the legislation before the House, there remains the possibility of further litigation in relation to the validity of the commissioners' powers at the time to have applied for the relevant planning permission. Furthermore, I am conscious of the need to ensure that the retrospective legislation currently before the House does not interfere with the constitutional rights of any individuals or groups.
Having regard, therefore, to the need to allay public concerns about the project and in view of inevitable further legal uncertainties and the need to protect constitutional rights, I have decided on two important courses of action. First, a public forum, consisting of three individuals, including persons with knowledge and expertise in maritime matters generally, will be set up shortly to allow individuals and groups to articulate publicly concerns they might have about the appropriateness of our involvement in the Loran C project in general, about the impact or effect of a Loran C mast on public health and the environment and about the selection of an appropriate site for such a mast. Second, the Commissioners of Irish Lights will be directed, following the outcome of the current Supreme Court case and the public forum mentioned above, not to proceed with the erection of a Loran C mast at any location without undertaking a renewed and appropriate planning application procedure.
I intend that the public forum will consult extensively on the general merits and demerits of the project as articulated in the debate to date, on the impacts and effects of a Loran C mast, whether in County Clare or elsewhere, and on the site selection procedure used by the commissioners. The forum will draw on expert advice and will adopt an informed view on the legitimacy or otherwise of concerns and opinions on all these and any other issues put to it. The proceedings of the forum will be public, open and comprehensive and its report will be published following the completion of its work. I would envisage that its work will take three to four months from its commencement.
On this basis and having regard to my statements earlier that this legislation is essential to allow the Commissioners of Irish Lights to continue its current work of assisting all vessels on the high seas and close to our coasts to sail our waters in safety, I recommend this Bill to the House.