Skip to main content
Normal View

Select Committee on Enterprise and Economic Strategy debate -
Tuesday, 12 Dec 1995

SECTION 3.

Amendments Nos. 4 and 7 are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 7, subsection (3), between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

"(a) by the substitution, in subsection (1), for ‘in consultation with the Minister for the Marine' of ‘with the consent of the Minister for the Marine',';".

These amendments arise as a result of the Minister for the Marine's overall responsibility for the protection of the marine environment and the safety of navigation. Under section 36 of the Sea Pollution Act, 1991, which amends section 7 of the Continental Shelf Act, 1968, the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications must consult with the Minister for the Marine when making regulations prohibiting or regulating the discharge of any oil, oily mixture, noxious liquid or substance, harmful substance or sewage or garbage from pipelines or cables, or in connection with their operation. In view of the Minister for the Marine's overall responsibility for the protection of the marine environment, it is considered more appropriate that such regulations should be made with the Minister's consent. Amendment No. 4 achieves this.

Similarly, the effect of amendment No. 7 will be to require the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications to obtain the consent of the Minister for the Marine before making an order under section 6, as amended, of the Continental Shelf Act, 1968, restricting shipping from entering specified areas. This consent requirement is in accordance with the Minister for the Marine's responsibility for safety of navigation and takes account of the expertise available to that Minister, on that subject, through the Marine Survey Office.

Amendment agreed to.
Section 3, as amended, agreed to.
Top
Share