Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

On behalf of the Labour Party I welcome the Maritime Security Bill 2004, which gives effect to the Rome Convention of March 1988, the UN Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, and the associated Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf. It is incumbent on us to pass this Bill as quickly as we can and deposit it with the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organisation under Article 18.2 of the convention and Article 6.2 of the protocol.

As the Minister of State said, the legislation before us was spurred on by Resolution 1373 of the UN Security Council of 28 September 2001 which called on all EU states to become members, as soon as possible, of the convention and the protocol, and indeed of all the 12 anti-terrorist conventions to which the Minister referred. I understand that the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Bill 2002 gave effect to four of the remaining six of these conventions to which we have not yet signed up. The Minister of State, Deputy Browne, is taking us through the last two conventions and protocols.

Why has it taken so long to get this legislation? While I accept that there has been a lot of business to deal with, and the legislation before us is not very substantial, it is nevertheless very important for us as a marine nation. The reform of procedures in this House is critical in order that we can quickly process legislation of this type. Had we brought it forward two and a half years ago, after 9/11, and after Resolution 1373, it would have been appropriate.

It is important that the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources address the huge range of vitally important legislation. I notice that we still have the Electricity (Amendment) Bill on the A list. On the B list we have the Energy Bill, the Fisheries Bill, the Mercantile Marine Bill and the Registration Bill. On the C list I counted perhaps 14 or 15 Bills yesterday afternoon, including very important marine Bills, such as the Marine Services Bill, the Maritime Safety Bill, the Bord Gáis Bill and the Broadcasting Authority Bill, about which we have all had intense representations in recent weeks.

I know that the Minister of State's Department and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, have a huge backlog of legislation, vitally important to the country and we should address that legislation as soon as we can.

The marine environment is especially vulnerable to terrorism and terrorist groups. In recent decades we have had a history of maritime attacks and hijacking. Areas which stand out in this regard are located around the world's sea lanes, in particular the Malacca Straits in south Asia which is 500 nautical miles long and 29 miles wide. A total of 80% of Japanese trade, much of American trade and two-thirds of the world's liquefied natural gas passes through and it was along that area that the ship the Chaumat was seized for a short time in 1999 and driven at full speed without anyone at the helm for a period of 70 minutes. This incident had the potential for a major catastrophe. In recent times, the Tamil Tigers, the Sri Lankan liberation force have specialised in maritime terrorism against the Sri Lankan navy as well as other passing ships. In this vitally important developing area of world trade, there is a clear need for the implementation of the legislation.

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