Seán Haughey
Ceist:146 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the position regarding the future of the board of the Commissioners of Irish Lights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1824/02]
Written Answers. - Commissioners of Irish Lights.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights – CIL – is the general lighthouse authority – GLA – responsible for providing and maintaining aids to navigation throughout the 32 counties of Ireland and its adjacent seas and islands. They are one of the three general lighthouse authorities, GLAs, for Britain and Ireland, all of which are financed out of the general lighthouse fund. The other two GLAs are Trinity House for England and Wales and the Northern Lighthouse Board for Scotland.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights is a statutory body which derives its origin from the Port of Dublin Act, 1786. The total membership of the CIL board is 21, consisting of 17 elected members, the Lord Mayor of Dublinex officio and three representatives of Dublin Corporation, now known as Dublin City Council. The Act provides that, where a vacancy occurs in the number of elected members, the remaining members shall elect a successor. In the case of the three Dublin City Council, members' successors are elected by the City Council.
Provision was made in the international agreement establishing North-South implementation bodies, which was concluded by the UK and Irish Governments on 8 March 1999, for the establishment of a body for aquaculture and marine matters to be known as the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission (FCILC). Sections 36, 37, 38(2) and the first part of the table to section 38 of the British-Irish Agreement Act provide for the transfer of the lights functions to the FCILC. These sections have not been brought into force and they cannot be commenced until such time as amendments are made to the UK Merchant Shipping Act, 1995, which would enable CIL to be dissolved and its functions transferred to the new body. In the meantime, CIL retains its existing functions and its board remains in place.
At the NSMC institutional meeting on 17 December 2001, the council noted the work undertaken and the complexities that have arisen in terms of pursuing a transfer of the existing functions of the Commissioners of Irish Lights to the Lights Agency. It agreed that officials should review the matter further and offer advice to the next meeting of the council in institutional format.