The Celtic Pride report into the tragic deaths of Catherine and James Tomlins confirms that their deaths on 12 August last were a tragedy waiting to happen. It is clear that the vessel on which the Tomlins family was travelling was chronically defective and that the defects had been a cause of complaint by passengers for some considerable time. It is clear that the complaints were well known to the board of the Swansea-Cork Ferries and to the Polish-Baltic Shipping Company from whom the ferry was on charter. Paragraph 8.15 of the report states:
It is obvious that the Celtic Pride has had a long history of problems with the sewage system on board. It appears that those involved did not realise the dangers associated with a badly functioning system and their various efforts were attempts to treat the symptom rather that tackle the cause of the problem. When this problem was finally tackled, unfortunately precipitated by the deaths of two children, the core faults were quickly established and rectified. In the opinion of this investigation, the status and condition of the sewage system on the Celtic Pride was “an accident” waiting to happen.
Following the tragedy I expressed the view that the total incompetence and criminal negligence which resulted in the death of the two Tomlins children warranted the bringing of criminal charges of manslaughter against those responsible. The published report confirms my view that such criminal prosecution should be brought.
The statement of the Minister for the Marine, Deputy Andrews, following the publication of the report "that the report comprehensively fulfilled its purpose" is extraordinary having regard to the fact that the report fails to address the issue of responsibility for this tragic event and does not, as the parents of the deceased children state, "explore the human factors surrounding the decision-making process that allowed a potential hazard to continue to exist without adequate resolution". The fact that the brief given to the marine surveyor did not allow him to address the issue of responsibility smacks of an attempt at an official cover-up. The exact responsibility in this appalling affair of the Minister for the Marine, the Department of the Marine, Swansea-Cork Ferries Board, the captain and crew of the ship and of the Polish-Baltic Shipping Company should have been fully investigated and clearly spelt out. It is now clear that the brief given to the marine surveyor by the Minister for the Marine for the preparation of his report was too narrow and too restrictive.
I am also appalled by the statement made by the board of Swansea-Cork Ferries who seek to pin sole responsibility for this tragedy on the owners of the ferry.
The board was responsible for chartering the ferry to travel the route, they had a public duty to ensure the ferry was safe and that the complaints about defects on board were properly redressed. Unfortunately, since this tragedy, the primary objective of the board has been to carry on business as usual and not to face up to and confront its own appalling failures. The board had a public duty to investigate and assess whether passengers were in danger and to ensure that complaints were properly dealt with. It failed tragically in that duty and the members of the board should now resign.
On 19 August last I wrote to the Garda Commissioner expressing my concern at the limited nature of the Garda inquiry being conducted into this tragedy and requested that the fullest report be made available to the Director of Public Prosecutions. By letter dated 19 October 1992 I was told that the Commissioner, having carefully considered all relevant material available to him to date, decided that the conduct of a criminal investigation was not warranted. There should now be a full and proper criminal investigation. I call on the Government and the Commissioner to commence a full investigation and ask that the fullest and most comprehensive report possible be made without delay to the Director of Public Prosecutions. I also want to know what communication, if any, took place between the Minister's office and the Garda Commissioner following this accident with regard to the nature of the inquiries the gardaí should make. It has been brought to my attention that local members of the gardaí expected that there would be a full criminal investigation but, in fact, there was an inquiry, not a full criminal investigation, as expected.
The Tomlins family have suffered an appalling bereavement. They are the victims of events that should never have taken place. They are now faced with a full civil trial in the High Court in which there are contentious matters at issue to determine where the full responsibility lay for the tragedy. The only merit that can be attributed to the board is that liability is being admitted but the damages payable to this family have not yet been determined. Nevertheless, in the context of their being a party to the court proceedings involving the ferry board and the shipping company, they will incur substantial legal costs and the minimum the Government should do is to indemnify the Tomlins family in respect of those costs and expenses. It should not be necessary to have a full civil High Court action to determine where responsibility lay. This should have been the subject of a Government inquiry and should now be the subject of a full criminal investigation.
