Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As I was saying, amendment No. 6 involves the deletion of all words from and including "which" on line 22 down to and including "apply" on line 24 and their replacement with "which, pursuant to regulations made under section 30(1) or (2), requires authorisation and who is required by those regulations to be a registered person or a licensee in respect of the relevant activity, shall make an application". The amendment is being proposed on foot of legal advice to bring additional clarity to section 8 to provide that the relevant activity is required to be authorised by the Environmental Protection Agency and that the person required under the regulations to hold a licence or registration for that purpose shall make such an application. For the same reason, the Government is proposing amendment No. 7 which involves the deletion of the words "which requires authorisation pursuant to regulations made under section 30(1) or 30(2) shall apply" and their replacement with "which, pursuant to regulations made under section 30(1) or (2), requires authorisation and who is required by those regulations to be a registered person or a licensee in respect of the relevant activity, shall make an application".

Furthermore, the Government is proposing amendment No. 8 which involves the deletion of lines 32 to 39, inclusive, on page 11 of the Bill and their substitution with the following:

(2)(a) Subject to paragraph (b), where the Agency receives an application referred to in subsection (1), the Agency shall decide, based on its regulatory experience and taking into account—(i) the magnitude of expected or potential doses of radiation, and

(ii) the complexity of the relevant activity to which the application relates,whether it is registration or a licence which would be appropriate to be granted in respect of the relevant activity concerned.

(b) The Minister may, in regulations made under section 30(1) or (2), provide in respect of a relevant activity that only a licence may be granted and, where provision is so made, the Agency shall, where it receives an application referred to in subsection (1) in respect of the relevant activity, consider the application on the basis that only a licence would be appropriate to be granted in respect of that relevant activity.

The amendment adds a new subsection (2)(b) to section 29A of the Radiological Protection Act 1991 which provides that the Minister may prescribe that certain activities be subject to licence only. Certain practices are not appropriate to the new registration system owing to the associated inherent risk. There are also certain activities which are required to be licensed under European legislation such as certain activities using high activity sealed sources. The amendment is necessary to ensure the Minister can provide in secondary legislation for parameters and strictures to ensure safety will be paramount in the authorisation of relevant activities and to respond effectively to the future development of practices and use of radiation sources in industry. The Government is also proposing amendment No. 9 which involves the deletion of the words "made under" on lines 6 and 7 of page 12 and their substitution with the words "referred to in". The amendment is being proposed on foot of legal advice to provide a correct reference.

I would also like to set out the position on amendments Nos. 11 and 12 which are being proposed by the Government. Amendment No. 11 is a drafting amendment which involves the deletion of "periodically." and its substitution with “periodically.".". The extra full stop is necessary to indicate the end of the section. Amendment No. 12 which involves the deletion of lines 22 to 29 on page 12 of the Bill is being proposed on foot of legal advice. The purpose of section 8 of the Bill is to give the Minister the necessary powers to make regulations to provide for a graded approach to authorisation and enable the transposition of certain requirements in Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM which is known as the basic safety standards directive. As the Bill is not the transposing instrument for the directive, the subsection is beyond the scope of this legislation. Subsection (6), as drafted, transposes Article 27 of the basic safety standards directive. Our legal advice is that this provision is more appropriate to the transposing instrument - the regulations made under section 30(1) and (2) of the 1991 Act. The subsection, as drafted, is also misleading because it does not represent an exhaustive list of activities which require authorisation before they may be carried out. There are other practices that are required to be authorised on foot of other directives such as the importation or exportation for disposal of radioactive waste from the State to another country under Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM which established a Community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. There may also be other activities and practices that should fall under this requirement and be considered in the context of the regulations made under section 30(1) and (2) of the 1991 Act.

On section 9 of the Bill, the Government is proposing amendment No. 14 on foot of legal advice. The amendment involves the deletion of lines 7 to 16 on page 13 of the Bill and their substitution with a new paragraph 3 with the following text:

(3) A relevant activity in respect of which registration or a licence is granted may be carried out in accordance with the registration or licence, as the case may be, from the date on which the particulars referred to in subsection (2) are entered in the register of registered relevant activities or the register of registered licensed activities, as appropriate.

The amendment clarifies that the operative date from which a registration or licence will come into effect will be the date on which the particulars are entered in the appropriate register.

On section 10 of the Bill, the Government is proposing amendment No. 15 on foot of legal advice. The amendment involves the deletion of all words from and including "the" where it firstly occurs on line 25 on page 13 of the Bill down to and including "activities" on line 26 and their substitution with "a European act which relates to relevant activities". The amendment provides that the Minister may make regulations to provide for cases in which European Acts provide for discretionary measures which would not fall under the definition of "obligations imposed on the State".

The Government is also proposing amendments Nos. 17 to 21, inclusive, to section 10. Amendment No. 17 involves the deletion of "subsection (2)" on line 38 of page 13 of the Bill and its replacement with “subsection (2A)". Amendment No. 18 involves the insertion of the words "addition to those matters referred to in subsection (2A), in" after the word "In" on line 40 of page 13 of the Bill. Amendment No. 19 involves the deletion of the word "under" on line 29 of page 16 of the Bill and its replacement with the words "referred to in". Amendment No. 20 involves the deletion of lines 33 to 37, inclusive, on page 18 of the Bill and their replacement with "(vii) the issuing by the Agency of a licence or of a certificate in respect of a registration, including the form and manner of such a licence or certificate, the manner (including by electronic means) in which it is to be issued and the information it is to contain,". Amendment No. 21 involves the insertion of the words "(within the meaning of section 2 of the Principal Act)" after the word "authorisation" on line 34 of page 19 of the Bill.

These are drafting amendments on foot of legal advice to correct cross-references in the text.

On amendment No. 22, the Government proposes, in page 21, line 22, to delete "(as amended by Part 1)" and substitute "(amended by Part 2)". This amendment updates the text to include the correct cross-reference.