Mr. Michael Kingston:

Yes. We all know that we need to have an investigative structure that is separate from the system or institution being investigated. That is common practice across all disciplines and all nations and the same applies here. People need to understand that we cannot have the regulators, in fairness to them as well, investigating their own work. That just does not work.

We have great opportunities as a nation in so many maritime areas but the foundation stone for our maritime progress in things like offshore energy and so forth, is the regulatory framework. We must have proper regulation in place. I would say to the Minister, who is a member of the Green Party, that having proper regulations in place will protect the environment. It will prevent pollution and promote the environmental agenda of the Irish nation in terms of renewable energy projects. The investigative unit to which I refer will contribute to that by making sure that we always have proper regulation. I would urge the Minister to provide funding for this investigative unit. The amount involved is minimal, at approximately €300,000 to €350,000 per year. It would prevent helicopters being called out, massive Garda searches which cost millions and so forth.

I wish to defer to Mr. McCarthy on this question if there is time because the codification of all Irish maritime regulation is extremely important. The Bill attempts to amend the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, SOLAS. The 1998 report argued that we must codify Irish maritime regulation because it was haphazard and all over the place. That was 23 years ago and we still have not done it. The Minister should provide funding to the Department to help it to draft codified legislation.