The Court of Justice of the European Union recently delivered its judgment in relation to Ireland's implementation of Article 8(1) of Directive 2009/18/EC.
Following that judgment, my Department obtained legal advice on the possible next steps to address the Court's findings.
As a first step to address the immediate issue regarding the membership of the Board of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB), both the Chief Surveyor of the Marine Survey Office and the nominee of the Secretary General of my Department have resigned from the Board.
Furthermore, since my reply to your most recent Parliamentary Question on this matter, I can confirm that officials from my Department are currently engaging with colleagues in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in relation to the preparation of amending regulations to give further effect to Directive 2009/18/EC having regard to the findings of the Court and the requirements of Article 8(1) of the Directive.
There has also been an exchange of correspondence with the EU Commission regarding the actions taken and proposed to address the Court Judgment and the concerns of the Commission.
Every effort continues to be made to progress matters as quickly as possible.
