John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)

The amendment proposes to insert the following:

"9. (1)—The owner, master, or crew member of a ship shall not cause or permit the discharge of a bilge containing oil, waste, noxious substances or any cargo without the consent of the Minister.

(2) When considering a request under subsection (1), the Minister shall have regard to the welfare of the:

(a) passengers;

(b) crew;

(c) ship;

(d) sealife; and

(e) the potential for pollution.".

This amendment is intended to make specific provision to punish those who deliberately dump waste from the bilge of a ship into the ocean. The bilge is the receptacle that stores waste material from oil, diesel and so on and from which material is often leaked. If such a leak occurs the captain may decide to simply empty the contents of the bilge into the ocean. This happens rarely but with Ireland holding 12% of the total waters of the EU and our policing capability being somewhat restricted this could be an issue; indeed, it is an issue given that we have 12% of EU waters. International bilge discharge is an issue worldwide. The Minister of State gave a commitment in this regard on Committee Stage. He might agree to incorporate the proposed wording.

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