John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

This Bill is a necessary technical measure to give effect to the 1988 United Nations Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation and also to the 1988 Protocol to that Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms on the Continental Shelf. The texts of the convention and protocol are in Schedules 1 and 2 to the Bill .

The convention and protocol have been in force since 1 March 1992. The contracting states thereto now number 78 and 71, respectively, including almost all of the EU member states and seven of the states which joined the Union on 1 May 2004. Ireland can only become a contracting state to the convention and protocol following enactment of this Bill and the formal approval of the terms of the convention and protocol by Dáil Éireann, pursuant to Article 29.5.2° of Bunreacht na hÉireann because of the likelihood of expenditure arising in regard thereto. Section 13 of the Bill also refers. The necessary motion is already on the Order Paper for approval.

Ireland's accession to the convention and protocol cannot have effect until 90 days after the instrument of accession is deposited with the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organisation, which is a specialist UN body headquartered in London, as specifically provided for in Article 18.2 of the convention and Article 6.2 of the protocol.

It did not appear necessary to successive Governments that legislation to give effect to the 1988 maritime convention and protocol should have priority over other legislation in their respective programmes. While there were a number of terrorist-type incidents involving cruise liners and other ships since 1988, there was little, if any, international pressure for all UN member states to give effect to the convention and protocol. However, the situation changed radically with the terrible terrorist attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 1373 on 28 September 2001 to urge all UN member states which had not yet done so to become party to the 1988 convention and protocol and ten other international instruments in order to strengthen international co-operation against terrorism.

Six of those 12 international instruments, which relate to aviation security and transport of nuclear material, have already been implemented by Ireland. The Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Bill 2002, being sponsored by the Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform and now before Dáil Éireann, gives effect to another four international instruments, the most important of which relates to the suppression of the financing of terrorism. Other legislative priorities delayed until this year the drafting and initiation in Seanad Éireann of a separate Maritime Security Bill 2004 to give effect to the remaining two instruments, namely, the 1988 convention and protocol.

The need to proceed with the Bill to early enactment has been reinforced by the terrorist atrocities in Madrid and elsewhere. We extend our sympathy to the bereaved and injured and commit ourselves to greater vigilance and further international co-operation against terrorism. All member states of the United Nations must have the necessary laws in place to deal with very mobile and serious offenders so as to ensure that they will not escape jurisdiction. More importantly, the law must be dissuasive, with sufficiently strong penalties and search and enforcement provisions. This Bill, therefore, addresses a particular gap in Irish law which should be filled as quickly as possible. The Government is committed to ensuring that other legislative measures, which may be agreed at EU level or at the wider UN level, to enhance maritime security will be made part of Irish law without delay. In that connection, I will continue to work closely with my colleagues, the Ministers for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Defence, and with the Garda and Defence Forces.

In the context of the current EU Presidency, it is the Government's wish that both Bills should now be dealt with by both Houses of the Oireachtas and enacted at an early date. That would signal clearly our resolve to press for greater co-operation between states in working against international terrorism in all of its many manifestations.

A key aspect of the European Council declaration of 25 March 2004 on combating terrorism is a commitment by all EU member states to improve implementation of commitments already undertaken following the terrorist attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001. The European Council declaration of 25 March 2004 also confirmed the appointment of a EU counter-terrorism co-ordinator, Mr. Gijs de Vries, and called on EU member states to develop co-operation between their intelligence, enforcement and judicial authorities and to develop a longer-term counter-terrorism strategy with the wider international community. Significant progress in that regard will be expected of EU member states, including Ireland, before the June 2004 European Council and the EU-USA summit.

I will now refer to the considerable practical work undertaken in the International Maritime Organisation and the EU over the past two years, which has resulted in the IMO-EU maritime security measures for ports and ships which will come into force on 1 July 2004 throughout the EU and beyond. As my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Dermot Ahern, has already advised this House during Question Time on 1 April 2004, the necessary preparations in the State are well advanced and are being co-ordinated by the maritime safety directorate in our Department to ensure the deadline is met. We expect all Irish ports and ships concerned to meet the new security requirements, so as to be able to continue to trade normally after 1 July 2004.

The new IMO-EU security measures in place from 1 July apply to the following: passenger ships; cargo ships of 500 gross tonnes and upwards; mobile offshore units; and port facilities for international voyages. Each Irish port and port facility with an approved port facility security plan, PFSP, in place in compliance with the EU regulations and the international ship and port facility code, ISPS, will receive a certificate of compliance from the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, and can continue to trade normally from 1 July 2004. Similarly, each Irish ship which is in compliance with the EU regulations and the ISPS code will receive an international ship security certificate from the appropriate recognised security organisation under the code and can continue to trade normally from that date. However, non-compliant ports, port facilities and ships will not.

The EU regulations extend the scope of the IMO measures to class A domestic passenger ships by 1 July 2005 and all other domestic traffic by 1 July 2007.

Maritime security is getting increasing attention in the IMO, the EU and other international fora in the general international moves to counteract terrorism. Particular attention is being given to putting in place greater controls on materials, equipment and technologies such as firearms, explosives and bomb making equipment which contribute to the proliferation of terrorist attacks. That work is ongoing.

In addition to the IMO-EU maritime security measures for ports and ships which will come into force on 1 July 2004, consideration is now under way of an EU Commission proposal for a directive prescribing additional security measures for the entirety of ports and surrounding areas and of proposals to amend the 1988 maritime convention and protocol, to which the Maritime Security Bill 2004 gives effect, which will create additional offences relating to the illegal carriage or use of weapons and explosives and, controversially, will provide extensive powers for states to stop, board and search ships on the high seas suspected to be carrying such articles or materials. These proposals are under consideration by the legal committee of the International Maritime Organisation and may emerge in 2005 for states to decide thereon.

While much of the Maritime Security Bill is, of necessity, modelled on provisions of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Bill 2002, a separate Bill was decided upon to deal with maritime security matters, which are of a somewhat specialised nature, by analogy with the separate legislative provisions made in the Air Navigation and Transport Acts to safeguard air navigation and transport against certain unlawful acts.

As specifically required by the convention and protocol, section 2 of the Maritime Security Bill 2004 creates certain offences against the safety of Irish ships and other ships which are in Irish territorial waters, and against any fixed platforms on Ireland's continental shelf, while section 3 is a standard-type extension of Ireland's jurisdiction to allow prosecution in the State for breaches of the convention or protocol committed outside the State. In either case, the penalty is life imprisonment on conviction on indictment. The specific offences listed in section 2 of the Bill mirror those set out in Article 3 of the convention and Article 2 of the protocol.

Sections 4 to 8 of the Bill supplement those principal provisions by providing powers for search on a ship or fixed platform on which an offence was believed to have been committed or an alleged offender is on board, and for the apprehension, detention and prosecution of alleged offenders or handing them over for prosecution to the appropriate authorities of another state which is party to the convention and protocol.

Sections 9 to 12, while ensuring the avoidance of double jeopardy in any case arising under the Bill, also ensure that, because of the gravity of the offences referred to, the most stringent requirements of the Bail Act 1997 and other relevant Acts will apply thereto. Thus, an application for bail in the case of a person charged with murder or attempted murder could only be made to the High Court, and bail may be refused in any event to a person charged with a serious offence under the Bill when enacted if the court considers it necessary to refuse bail in order to prevent the commission of a further serious offence. Moreover, offences under the Bill cannot be regarded as political offences so as to prevent the extradition of the alleged offender from the State to the requested state.

I have already dealt with section 13 of the Bill, which is a standard provision to cover expenditure in the administration of the Bill when enacted. The remainder of the Bill, sections 1, interpretation, and 14, Short Title, is also on standard lines.

A detailed explanatory and financial memorandum was published with the Bill and I will be glad to provide any further information required by Deputies to facilitate their consideration of it. Early enactment of the Bill is pressing. Not only will it help to reassure our important commercial shipping and port enterprises and offshore energy producers, but it will also confirm the resolve of the Government to deal effectively with the terrorism dossier in its EU Presidency. I therefore look forward to the assistance of Deputies with the passage of the Bill.

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