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Marine Accidents.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 October 2004

Thursday, 21 October 2004

Questions (20)

Róisín Shortall

Question:

16 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the inquiry that will be held into the loss of the fishing vessel, St. Oliver, with the loss of four lives, off the Galway coast in September 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25664/04]

View answer

Written answers

At the outset, I take this opportunity to extend my deepest sympathy to the families on the tragic loss of the four crewmen. The tragic accident involving the St. Oliver is currently under investigation by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, MCIB, which is an independent body established under the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) Act 2000. This board was established to provide a new legislative and procedural regime to regulate the area of marine casualty investigation in Ireland replacing a system that had been in place since 1894.

The main purpose of the board's investigation is to establish the cause or causes of a marine casualty with a view to making recommendations to me for the avoidance of similar marine casualties. Investigations carried out by the MCIB do not attribute blame or fault. Under the Act, the board is required to publish a report, within nine months of the incident taking place, of any investigation it undertakes into a marine casualty after having sought and received the observations of parties likely to be adversely affected by publishing the report.

I expect to receive the final report on this incident by the end of June 2005 following legal vetting by the board and the application and finalisation of natural justice procedures. However, if the report is published earlier, the Act also provides for a copy of the final report to be transmitted to me as soon as it is published. Once published, the report will be available on the web and made available free of charge to anyone who requests a copy.

It is most important that the facts of this tragic incident are established. The Deputy will appreciate that it would be inappropriate for me to comment on any aspect of this case while it is still under investigation. However, I want to assure the Deputy that if, in the course of the investigation or arising from any recommendations contained in the final report, additional safety measures are found to be necessary, I shall have them implemented as quickly as possible to improve maritime safety generally.

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