Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Yes, a summary of his views, which makes a great deal of sense. If the committee wishes to share it, that could further inform the review we intend to make, which I mentioned in my opening remarks, as would engagement with other stakeholders and relevant parties who would be interested in that. It is timely and important to have that review. It will take a certain amount of time, but I hope not an excessive amount. It would be several months rather than longer. I want that to take place. Any such issues are best addressed within that review.

More immediately, we need the Bill before the committee for pre-legislative scrutiny, with a view to it going to the House. In that interim period, and legislation takes time to draft and reviews take time for all views to be heard and so forth, I do not want to run the risk that we might not have a sufficient number of board members for the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, as it is currently constituted, to be able to do its work. That is a risk I do not believe we can take over any period. For that reason, I wish to proceed with this relatively simple measure within the context of all the questions raised. It is important legislation to ensure we are not at that risk, and in order that we can proceed quickly to appoint new members so we will not fall short under any circumstances should there be a need for the investigation unit. There is always an ongoing need. This is an ongoing risk to which I do not wish to leave us exposed. By all means, I look forward to seeing the committee's correspondence and to include that in the consideration by an independent reviewer, but that is not the purpose of this legislation. This legislation has an immediate, urgent purpose - to reduce the risk of us not having an effective board in the meantime.