Before we commence I remind Senators that they may speak only once on Report Stage.
Dumping at Sea Bill, 1995: Report and Final Stages.
Government amendment No. 1:
In page 8, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following:
"(c) The Minister shall, as soon as may be after the end of each year, cause to be published inIris Oifigiúil, particulars of all permits granted under this section, in that year.”.
On Committee Stage Senator Daly proposed an amendment providing for publication by the Minister of a list of permits in at least one national newspaper each year. I have examined his proposal and, as I indicated on that stage, I am satisfied that members of the public have open access to particulars of permits. Under section 5 (9) of the Bill, the Minister must keep a register of particulars of all dumping at sea permits and this register must be kept open for inspection by the public free of charge. It is also normal practice for my Department to forward copies of permits to members of the public on request. Notwithstanding that, I appreciate Senator Daly's concerns that details of permits should be made available to as wide an interested public as possible. For that reason I consider it appropriate to make provision in the Bill for publishing of the details of permits in Irish Oifigiúil. I recommend this amendment to the House.
I thank the Minister of State for the positive response he has shown in moving this worthwhile amendment. I would have preferred to see my proposal, that it be published in the national newspapers, being enacted; but this is an improvement to the Bill and in so far as the Minister has gone some way towards meeting my request, I welcome it.
I compliment the Minister, Deputy Gilmore, for introducing this amendment.
The Senator opposed it on Committee Stage.
I did not. I opposed the undue expense.
The Senator should read the record to see what she said.
The Minister said he would consider the possibility of rural publication, with which we all agreed.
She is trying to get in on the act now but it is a waste of time.
This is indicative of the transparency and openness with which the Minister operates in the Department of the Marine, unlike previous Ministers with that portfolio who had tunnel vision. When constructive or even not particularly constructive proposals have been made, at least this Minister and his officials are prepared to examine them with an open mind and to accommodate them if possible. That is commendable in the political arena and Oireachtas debate and I hope it will be adhered to in the years ahead. I thank the Minister for this approach and I hope Senator Daly and his party open their minds in a similar fashion.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 2:
In page 8, to delete lines 35 to 38, and substitute the following:
"(b) The Minister may, in relation to the fisheries regions created under section 10 of the Fisheries Act, 1980, appoint an officer of the Central Fisheries Board established by the said Act, to be an authorised officer.
(c) The Minister may, in relation to a fisheries region created under the said section 10, appoint an officer of a regional fisheries board (within the meaning of that section) established in respect of that fisheries region, to be an authorised officer.
(d) An authorised officer appointed under paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of this subsection shall, in the discharge of his functions under this section, have regard to such considerations of policy as the Minister may direct.".
On Committee Stage Senator Daly proposed an amendment providing for the appointment of officers of the central and regional fisheries boards as authorised officers for the purposes of the Fisheries Act, 1980. I had some reservations about this amendment because that Act, which established the boards, provides that their jurisdiction in relation to management and protection of fisheries should extend out to 12 miles only. The Bill before the House extends our jurisdiction on the regulation of dumping at sea to 200 miles and to 350 miles in some cases. I also took the view that the Bill as it stands provides for the appointment of a wide range of technical and scientific experts as authorised officers, including fisheries experts from the Marine Institute.
However, I accept the point made by Senator Daly and Senator Fitzgerald that in some cases members of the regional fisheries board would be best placed to enforce the provisions of the Bill in respect of their region. The amendments I now propose, which have been drafted by the Office of the Attorney General, provide for appointment by the Minister of officers of the central and regional fisheries boards as authorised officers for the purpose of the Bill. Their authority for enforcement of the Bill will be in respect of their region only.
The Bill as it stands requires that officers of the Marine Institute who are appointed as authorised officers must have regard to such considerations of policy as the Minister may direct. The amendment to section 6 (c), which I now propose on the advice of the Attorney General, is being extended to include officials of the central and regional fisheries boards who are appointed as authorised officers.
I welcome this amendment also and compliment the Minister of State for being so straightforward in doing what we suggested was important on the last occasion. This side of the House felt that the people who were to the forefront in fighting pollution and illegal fishing activities were the officers of the regional fisheries boards, under the direction of the Central Fisheries Board. In so far as this amendment goes, it is welcome and I thank the Minister for making these changes.
As I said on earlier stages of this Bill, the most important aspect of this legislation will be its enforcement, so we must ensure the resources and staffing are provided to deal with the matter. The Minister of State is aware that, despite legislation being in place for a number of years, there is an ongoing problem with the dumping of refuse, particularly at sea. One only has to look at the beaches. The Minister had an opportunity to look at the situation in Kilkee when he was there over the weekend.
Do not mention the beaches.
Senator Daly, without interruption.
In spite of the interruptions he was getting from Senator Taylor-Quinn who tried to——
We will allow you to settle that Clare dispute in Clare.
We will not settle it here.
The Minister is aware that an amount of refuse is being washed ashore and it is obvious that some of it comes from fishing and other vessels. It has been established that quite an amount of refuse from Spanish fishing vessels is surfacing on beaches in the west of Ireland. With the best will in the world, unless we have the necessary manpower and resources to deal with this problem, it will continue.
I compliment the Minister on taking this action to direct the fisheries boards to take a special interest in the areas of the sea within their jurisdiction, especially in terms of identifying the source of the refuse so it can be tidied. Some of the coastline is disastrous because of the amount of waste and dumped material coming in on to the beaches. This is not just a problem for local authorities, but also for people who frequent beaches. One finds wine bottles, beer cans and other items which have obviously been dumped from vessels operating around the coastline. There should be a clamp down on this activity this year. The full resources of the State should be used by both the fisheries boards and the local authorities to endeavour to enforce this new legislation.
On Committee Stage an extensive discussion took place on this matter.
The Senator opposed this as well.
At the time I opposed the Opposition's suggestion to extend the jurisdiction of the fisheries boards to the 300 miles included in this Bill. I believed they had neither the manpower nor the equipment to go out into the high seas and do what this Bill required and that they had neither the personnel nor the expertise to engage in that type of activity. I am delighted that the Minister saw the sense of it and in the course of the discussion expressed the view——
Against the Senator's wishes.
——that it would not be feasible or possible to extend the responsibility of the fisheries boards into the high seas out to 300 miles.
That was never said.
In essence the Minister has given a broader remit to the regional fisheries boards within their own region. It is wise to contain the regional fisheries boards within their region, as defined in the 1980 Act, because their primary responsibility is our inland waters, particularly rivers and lakes. It is important that those are properly monitored and controlled because of the pollution which can occur and regularly does occur. Much work and monitoring is required to ensure that no more discharges, pollution or fish kills occur on the rivers and lakes. The Minister has shown an open-mindedness.
I agree with Senator Daly that there are problems, particularly in relation to Spanish trawlers and the way they have trawled our coasts and waters at various stages. I compliment the Minister and his Department on the closer monitoring in that area and the number of boats that have been picked up. In particular, they have managed to keep the Spanish trawlers outside the limit. That is extremely important. It is also important that the vigilance continues so Irish fishermen will have an opportunity of securing reasonable catches and that they are not put into a situation of confrontation with Spanish trawlers. The Minister has shown common sense and I compliment him for that.
I join with Senator Daly and Senator Taylor-Quinn in complimenting the Minister. The acceptance of amendments and suggestions from the Opposition is good for legislation. I have found the Minister to be very open in the time since he was appointed. When discussing Bills in this House he has always been ready to accept amendments and suggestions from this side of the House if they are good ones. It is a pity this does not extend to more portfolios, but I will not go into that.
My point on Committee Stage was that the regional fisheries boards' officers would be travelling through these waters anyway. If they saw anything illegal, such as the dumping of refuse, they could afford to take action. I was not saying that these people should change over, forget the fish and go out specifically to monitor dumping at sea.
I have one suggestion which relates to a problem we have experienced on our own doorstep. Could we circulate the fishing boats? I am not sure how this could be done. We should advise skippers of trawlers and so on of the laws and the penalties which could be imposed on them for dumping at sea. They have refuse on board their ships and boats. Last week in Dingle we had to take action when one of the local fishermen dumped regular refuse out of the boat into the harbour without even thinking. A boat is like a house in terms of refuse. When one walks along the shore, one finds more milk bottles and plastic bottles than anything else. Most of them are coming from fishing boats. All registered fishing boats should be warned that continued dumping is coming to an end and they should be given details of the penalties that could be imposed if they do not adhere to this.
I compliment the Minister. He has shown great feeling towards the sea and dumping at sea. I commend him on giving power to the Garda to apprehend these people. There are areas along the sea coast which the fisheries boards may not be able to reach. It is good that the Garda will be in a position to do that job. I come from an inland town, Kanturk in north Cork. For a number of years we had much pollution in our rivers. Unfortunately, by the time the regional fisheries people came to our town and the district from which the pollution came, they could not trace it and therefore could not prosecute.
I agree with Senator Fitzgerald. It would help if notice boards were placed on harbours to outline the new laws and the penalties people would suffer if they committed an offence. It may clean things up. I hope that we will have the resources to monitor this, as it is a large project for a small nation. We must protect our shores from pollution if we want to develop tourism, which is relevant to the west and southwest of the country, and fish farming. I compliment the Minister again.
I thank Senators for their complimentary and supportive remarks. Senator Taylor-Quinn is right. On Committee Stage my concerns were that the inclusion of the officers of regional fisheries boards and the Central Fisheries Board as then proposed could result in their powers being extended past the 12 mile limit and their own regions. My amendment, which is in response to the one proposed by Senator Daly and Senator Fitzgerald on Committee Stage, proposes to confine the powers of officers within the 12 mile limit, their own regions and the policy guidelines set down by the Minister. They will be in line with the other officers who are to be appointed for the purposes of this Bill.
With regard to the enforcement of the Bill, there is the option to appoint officers of the Minister, the Marine Institute, the Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces, the Radiological Protection Institute, harbour authorities, regional fisheries boards and the Central Fisheries Board as enforcement officers. There is a wide range of people who may be appointed as authorised officers to monitor and enforce dumping at sea legislation. They will work in close harmony with the measures now in place for the surveillance of our sea fisheries. These measures are extensive and sophisticated and involve the Air Corps, the Navy and fisheries officers. All these will co-operate to ensure this legislation is enforced.
Senator Fitzgerald and Senator Cashin suggested that information or notices should be made available about not just this Bill but the range of marine environment legislation and regulations now in place. This suggestion is worthwhile and I will consider the possibility of putting together a layman's guide in this area. The MARPOL Convention probably does not confer a great deal of immediate sense and it would perhaps be useful to prepare a guide since we now have in place a large body of legislation and regulations governing the protection of the marine environment. I would be happy to consider this suggestion.
The issue of beaches was raised. Pollution of beaches and their standards is a matter for the Minister for the Environment and the local authorities, which are under his remit. My responsibility relates only to pollution which comes from the seaward side. I am sure Senators will agree that a great deal of the pollution which appears on our beaches does not come from the seaward side but from dumping and landbased sources. The Minister for the Environment and local authorities are actively addressing this matter.
With regard to officers of fisheries boards, I made the point on Committee Stage and I will repeat it now, given that the summer season is finally with us, that I do not envisage officers of regional fisheries boards being dispatched out to sea to enforce this legislation. We already have in place, between officers of the Department, the Marine Institute and the Naval Service, quite an amount of resources to address this area.
There is a serious problem about which we have, unfortunately, heard some evidence. Senator Cashin referred to pollution of rivers. Every summer we see evidence of pollution in rivers and lakes in the form of fish kills. Some of these are due to low water levels and seasonal conditions which arise. I envisage that officers of regional boards will concentrate their attention on pollution in rivers and lakes. Boards have my full support in applying the full rigours of water pollution and fisheries legislation to identify and pursue polluters of rivers and lakes. The negligence and irresponsibility which give rise to pollution and damage to fish life and which occur too often cannot continue. Throughout the summer officers of regional boards, the Central Fisheries Board and local authorities will be extremely vigilant in identifying sources of pollution and polluters and applying the full rigours of the law to them. People who think they can get away with letting substances, whether from land or industrial activity, into our rivers and lakes to damage fish life and water quality must think again. The central and regional fisheries boards, the Department of the Environment — its Minister has a keen interest in this area — and local authorities will be extremely vigilant this summer in ensuring that pollution of rivers and lakes is kept to a minimum.
I have a brief question.
You have already spoken on this Stage. You can make a point on Fifth Stage.
Amendment agreed to.
Bill reported with amendment and received for final consideration.
Question proposed: "That the Bill do now pass."
We spoke about jurisdiction in our 12 mile limit. What officers will have jurisdiction outside this limit to monitor compliance with the Bill? The Garda only has jurisdiction within this limit. How will compliance be monitored?
I compliment the Minister on the way he listened to all sides of the argument in bringing this Bill to fruition. He said that much of the pollution on our beaches comes from the seaward side. However, while Clare can look after itself, we in Kerry were disappointed to lose blue flags this year in spite of the fact that more sewage treatment plants have gone into operation in the county during the past year. They should prevent pollution and provide a high water quality. Despite all our efforts and the legislation we are passing we seem to be getting nowhere, although Clare is worse off.
We can speak for ourselves.
In spite of all that, we are getting fewer blue flags this year than last.
I thank the Minister of State for the changes he has made in the Bill, which will improve it. It was not our intention that the Minister of State should dispatch anybody to any particular location. Far be it from us to distract conservation staff from their important pollution control work.
The Senator should have put it on the record on Committee Stage.
Nevertheless, the Minister of State must be aware that there is quite an amount of refuse coming in from the sea. If he comes to the west Clare coast on any weekend he would see many indications of discarded refuse from Spanish and other foreign vessels operating off the west coast. He would see an amount of wine and brandy bottles along the coast, although they are all empty.
They would not be discarded for long if it were otherwise.
That is an indication that quite a sizeable amount of refuse comes from the sea, although it is fair to say that refuse also comes the land side. We must make every effort to control that.
Does the Protocol finish now and is it possible through further amendments to the convention to build some type of fund into that to allow us to draw down some support to deal with these problems?
I support the Minister's strong message that illegal or careless activity causing indiscriminate destruction of fish stocks will be opposed. We fully support him in his efforts to clamp down on any type of illegal activity that puts such valuable stocks at risk.
I join with my colleagues in thanking the Minister for bringing this legislation before the House. It is progressive and constructive in relation to our sea environment and I hope it will be put into effect fully in the years ahead. I endorse the Minister's comments on pollution that has the potential to occur during the summer season. I am delighted the Minister has forewarned any parties with such notions that the full force of the law will be used against them.
We talk about farmers and industrialists causing pollution but they have been taken to court by local authorities who are themselves the most serious offenders. The Government is making progress with a sewage treatment programme and the quicker it can move on with that the better. Balance is required in viewing the overall situation. The Minister has shown an openness and foresight that is welcome in the political arena. I hope it will last for a long time.
I commend the Minister on this Bill. I thank him for taking suggestions from the floor of the House and for accommodating us.
As regards refuse on our shores, I made inquiries concerning Castle-townberehaven, where as many as 27 boats can be tied up at a given time. My source was not sure if there was a skip on the harbour to take refuse from the boats. I suggest that something similar to household bins should be compulsory on boats. In that way they could easily discharge waste into a container on the pier. Given human frailty, there is a tendency to go five miles out and dump it overboard; but it is then washed back onto our shores.
I thank Senators for their co-operation in getting this Bill passed. It is an important piece of legislation because we are banning sea dumping of all harmful materials like noxious and poisonous waste, radioactive substances and munitions. The ban covers all materials, including those that have in some cases, unfortunately, been dumped at sea in the past. While in years past people did not know the difference, now it will no longer be possible to dump such materials in our seas.
We are also extending the jurisdiction of the State out from the 12 mile limit to 200 and 350 miles from our coasts. We will thus have much greater control over the maritime environment than has been the case.
Third, we are enabling this country to ratify the OSPAR Convention governing pollution at sea in the areas around the north east Atlantic. It is an important piece of legislation to protect our seas, to make sure they are not used as a dumping ground and that they are kept safe and clean for people and for future generations.
I wish to respond to a number of specific questions raised by Senators. As regards the officers who will be authorised to enforce this legislation, with the exception of fishery board officers who will be confined to their own 12-mile limit regions, all other authorised officers will have power to enforce this legislation to the extent of our maritime area.
A pollution fund was suggested and there is already an oil pollution fund which can be extended to include other substances. All these questions are under continuing review by the OSPAR Convention and they will come up for discussion when the convention is reviewed.
In relation to the disposal of garbage at ports, under the MARPOL Convention the obligation is to dispose of waste in port garbage facilities. I am advised that such facilities are available at Castletownbere.
In relation to beach pollution, while I am sure that Senator Daly did not intend this, we have a tendency in this country when something unpleasant happens to identify the source somewhere else. There may indeed be pollution from Spanish vessels and if there is, then they will have to be dealt with in the normal way under this and other legislation.
We must face up to the fact that pollution which appears on our beaches is for the most part caused by our own citizens. We will have to put our own house in order in relation to that type of pollution which is caused by people throwing bags of rubbish over a cliff and onto a beach. That type of thing must be stamped out. Citizens will have to become more vigilant by reporting it to the appropriate authorities. Those dumping the rubbish will have to get a new sense of responsibility in relation to their environment. The best protection of our environment is the responsibility which people exercise to ensure that they do not pollute whether by littering, indiscriminate dumping or by polluting a river, lake, beach or the sea.
I thank Senators for their help and assistance in passing this Bill. I will be required to go back to the Dáil with the amendments made by the Seanad to this Bill, which has been substantially improved by the debate in this House.
Question put and agreed to.
Sitting suspended at 11.20 a.m. and resumed at 2 p.m.