I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
This Bill is an important component in the body of measures which have been constructed to protect and enhance the marine environment. It will make the reporting of oil pollution incidents or potential incidents mandatory. Harbour authorities, ships carrying oil as cargo, operators of offshore installations, oil handling and producing facilities and, in certain circumstances, local authorities, will now have to put in place oil pollution emergency plans.
It also extends Ireland's jurisdiction for dealing with pollution incidents from the current 12 mile limit to 200 miles. This is a vital step in the further protection of our marine environment and the valuable maritime and coastal resources which depend on it. This Bill also proposes tough new penalties of up to £10 million for non-compliance.
The Irish Marine Emergency Service, IMES, will be designated as the national agency which will have the power to direct the preparation of these emergency plans as a statutory requirement. Individual plans will be co-ordinated with the overall national plan.
Increased co-operation with other coastal states, in the event of oil pollution, is also provided for. International co-operation and support is a vital part of responding to major marine emergencies all over the world. Services from neighbouring countries willingly assist each other in situations where geography and separate administrations are of secondary importance. The Bill will create a framework for co-operation between the Irish Marine Emergency Service, IMES, harbour authorities, local authorities and the operators of oil tankers, offshore installations and oil handling facilities. Our extensive coastline makes us vulnerable to oil pollution accidents. The devastating effects that spillages can have on the marine and coastal environments have been made all too clear by the Braer and the Sea Empress accidents. The measures in the Bill provide strong safeguards for our seas and shoreline amenities and the communities which depend on them in the event of any such incident.
The Bill gives effect to the Oil Pollution Preparedness Response and Co-operation Convention, OPRC, 1990. This convention is designed to ensure proper arrangements are in place in each member state of the International Maritime Organisation, IMO, to deal with emergencies arising from oil spillages into the sea. It calls for member states to have a major national emergency plan to deal with major spillages and a designated response agency and to co-operate with the IMO and adjoining states in planning for and dealing with oil pollution incidents.
There is a requirement on all ships carrying oil as cargo and all installations producing or handling oil products to have emergency pollution plans in place and for anyone becoming aware of a spillage to notify the national agency. The Irish Marine Emergency Service, IMES, which was set up in 1991 as part of the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, was designated the Irish response agency and has made the necessary arrangements to give effect to the convention. However, it is necessary to provide a statutory basis for action by the designated response agency in implementing the convention; to enable that agency to direct the preparation of emergency plans by others as a statutory requirement and to make reporting of oil pollution incidents or potential ones mandatory. The Bill fulfils this legislative requirement.
Since becoming Minister I have accorded a high priority to the protection of the marine environment. The high quality of our marine environment is an important element of Ireland's natural endowment, both for its intrinsic value and as a major resource for marine tourism and leisure and the marine food sector. Ireland has consistently argued at EU meetings and international fora for the highest possible international standards in this area. It has a corresponding responsibility to ensure that it introduces both the appropriate legislation and the measures necessary for implementation. Small countries as well as large have serious obligations in this regard. The Bill complements a number of other measures which have been introduced in recent years or are currently being prepared.
The Oil Pollution of the Sea (Civil Liability and Compensation) (Amendment) Act, 1998, was enacted in May. It strengthens the law in regard to oil pollution by bringing it into line with current international conventions and increases the level of compensation in the event of an oil spill to a maximum of £195 million. In 1997 four sets of regulations were made under the Sea Pollution Act, 1991, to give effect to provisions of the IMO Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, known as the MARPOL convention. Work is under way to adopt further provisions of MARPOL concerning the prevention of pollution by sewage from ships and the prevention of air pollution from ships.
In March 1998, the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic, OSPAR, came into force internationally following ratification by all the contracting parties. In July 1998 I led the Irish delegation to the first ministerial meeting of the OSPAR Commission in Portugal. It adopted a new annex to the convention dealing with biodiversity, a series of strategies and an action plan for the OSPAR commission. It also adopted a decision governing the disposal of disused offshore installations. Under the auspices of OSPAR the drafting of a comprehensive quality status report, containing essentially a health check of our adjacent marine environment, has been completed and will be published shortly. My Department, in conjunction with the Marine Institute, and in consultation with industry representatives, has continued to develop a strategy for the environmental regulation of offshore oil and gas activities. This will take account of the strategy on offshore industry, which is currently being prepared under the auspices of the OSPAR convention.
I established a task force on the dumping of radioactive materials in the maritime area in 1997, in the wake of revelations by the UK Government that radioactive waste had been dumped at a number of locations around the coast of the UK during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. I expect it to report during the coming months. A total of 28 phosphorus devices washed up along the east coast between 3 and 8 June 1998. A further device washed ashore on 19 July 1998. These devices apparently originated in the Beaufort Dyke dump site, which lies between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
My Department immediately contacted the UK authorities to express the Government's serious concern at these developments and, subsequently, meetings were held with senior officials from a range of UK Departments and agencies to discuss the problem; I had discussions with the Ministers concerned. In addition, I raised the issue at the ministerial meeting of the OSPAR Commission, and OSPAR subsequently agreed to examine the issue of dumped munitions in the waters around Europe. It asked Ireland, as lead country, to prepare a paper on the problems posed by dumped munitions. This will form the basis for future action on the subject.
Deputies will be aware that 1998 was designated International Year of the Ocean by the United Nations. I signed the Ocean Charter, which was sponsored by the International Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO to mark the occasion. In December I also opened the Oceans Conference at Dublin Castle, which was hosted by the Marine Institute. In addition, my Department was represented at the second London Oceans Workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to mark the International Year of the Ocean and also to prepare for the 7th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, CSD 7, in New York next month. Oceans and seas will be the major sectoral theme of CSD 7, at which I will represent Ireland. The shoreline protection strategy was recently completed by IMES. It is intended to commence testing this plan during the coming months. Local authorities and harbours have been requested to compile contingency plans and are finding the strategy extremely useful in assisting them in this regard.
Following agreement at the IMO Assembly, which I addressed in November 1997, to make mandatory the INF code which governs the transport by sea of irradiated nuclear fuels, my Department is developing unproved reporting arrangements governing the carriage of nuclear materials by sea both within the context of the IMO and, bilaterally, with the United Kingdom and France. Of course, we would be much happier if they were not transported.
My colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Byrne, continues to serve on the ministerial committee on Sellafield and on radiological protection generally under the chairmanship of the Minister of State at the Department of Public Enterprise, Deputy Jacob. The measures to which I have referred set out the context in which the Bill is being introduced. The marine environment is an issue of concern to all Deputies and, indeed, to the community at large. It is a subject to which considerable attention has been paid in recent years, but which requires vigilance from all parties involved. I look forward to Deputies' contributions in the matter and commend the Bill to the House.