Priority Questions. - Marine Accidents. – Dáil Éireann (28th Dáil) – Wednesday, 20 Oct 1999

Priority Questions. - Marine Accidents.

Michael Finucane

Question:

25 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the fury surrounding the publication of the investigation into the sinking in September 1992 of the Irish registered Orchidee by the Agena which resulted in the death of the crew members and led to criminal convictions of two of the French crew; if his attention has further been drawn to the dissatisfaction with the report and its conclusions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20887/99]

Mr. Byrne

As the Deputy will be aware, this is an extremely sensitive matter and understandably so for the families of the deceased members of the crew of the Orchidee, Mr. Jimmy Power and Mr. Bobby Doran.

I saw the reported comments and these concerns were explored in detail at a lengthy meeting with the Power and Doran families held in my Department on 29 September last. The principal concern of the families is that the report and the media commentary on the report is open to the interpretation that both vessels were at fault in the tragic accident which occurred.

It is not the purpose of the report, however, to attribute fault as such to any party but rather to identify what happened and if the accident could have been avoided. It is very important, if further accidents of this type are to be avoided, that the lessons of the tragic loss of the Orchidee are brought home to the owners and crews of all vessels.

As I said earlier, it was not the purpose of the report to apportion blame as between the parties. However, without in any way seeking to qualify the findings in the report, it seems it would be entirely wrong to draw an inference that both parties were equally at fault. On the contrary, it is my strong opinion, having considered all the circumstances of the case, that the Irish vessel, which was almost stationary in the water and which was struck at speed at night by another larger vessel on which proper watch was not being maintained, was a passive party to the accident and in that sense was in no way responsible for causing the accident. I am conveying these views to the families and I hope it will be of some solace to them in coping with the tragic losses they have had to endure.

Mr. Finucane

This unfortunate tragedy occurred in September 1992, over seven years ago. I am sure the release of the report brought the sad tragedy back to the minds of both families. Why did this report take seven years? Given that two of the French fishermen were convicted by the French courts of negligence, surely it would be only right and fitting for the report to firmly establish that the French fishermen were responsible for what happened, as was clearly proven in court?

The Minister of State is emotionally involved in this, in that he knows the family of one of the fishermen, and that he crusaded for the release of the report. However, a criticism has been made that the investigator from his Department did not inspect the vessel in Dunmore East and that if he had done so he would have clearly established that the damage was done on the port side of the vessel and not head on, as was claimed in the report. Will the Minister of State clarify the situation?

Mr. Byrne

The first question related to why it took so long to publish the report. The Deputy is right that I have been heavily involved in this incident since it occurred seven years ago. It was a traumatic time for all the families and for all the fishermen fishing out of Kilmore, Duncannon and Dunmore East.

The French maritime authorities decided in October 1992 to proceed with a judicial inquiry rather than a technical inquiry by a surveyor. As the judicial inquiry resulted in criminal proceedings being brought against two crew members of the French vessel, as the Deputy rightly said, and the matter, therefore, became sub judice in Irish terms, the investigation being carried out by the surveyor from the Department's marine survey office was necessarily suspended while awaiting the outcome of the French proceedings. It was only after these proceedings were completed that details were received which enabled the Irish inquiry to be completed in December 1997. As is standard practice in these matters, the report of the investigation was then forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General for legal advice, prior to being made public.

During that period I contacted the French Embassy, the then Minister for the Marine and the then Foreign Minister every other day asking for this to be speeded up. It is possibly as a result of the delay experienced in this instance that accidents will now be investigated and reported on in a much shorter timeframe.

In regard to the accident itself, the report states pretty well everything that happened. I am personally satisfied with the report's findings in relation to what happened. I have facilitated meetings for the Doran and Power families with the Department officials. I am quite satisfied that, in light of my very strong statement today, while the families will not be happy, they will be satisfied with the outcome of this.

Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 20 Oct 1999