Mr. Ciaran McCarthy:

In reply to Deputy Ó Murchú’s query, it is somewhat disappointing that the legislation has been sought to be introduced by amending the Merchant Shipping Act 1894. We do not need another amendment of this. The UK has got rid of its Merchant Shipping Act 1984. We need up-to-date, codified legislation. The practice of the Minister of tagging very disparate elements of maritime law onto one Bill is not good. It makes our legal code extremely cumbersome and hard to understand.