Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

Not necessarily. At least 12 states must express consent to be bound by the convention through ratification or accession. Incorporated in that must be four states, each with a registered fleet of at least 2 million units of gross tonnage. To put it in perspective, this is more than ten times the size of the Irish fleet. I doubt if we will make a contribution there, but we will make a contribution as far as the additional figures are concerned. I cannot give the Deputy a definite figure. It will be up to me to obtain the facts from the IMO. I will make the Deputies who are interested aware of the facts when I get them.

The regulation will not enter into force until 18 months after both criteria are met. Contributors in the states that have ratified or acceded to the convention must receive a minimum of 40 million tonnes of contributing cargo covered by the general account. If Ireland was the last country to have signed off, it would still take 18 months to put the regulation in place. I will be in touch with the IMO and I hope progress will be made.

Deputy Broughan referred to the foreshore Bill, which is being revamped. I would like to use it as a vehicle to introduce other aspects which may not have been included in the legislation. I draw the attention of the House to various legislation introduced over a number of years which are relevant to the marine environment. These include the Sea Pollution (Amendment) Act 1999, the Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Wreck) Act 1993, a number of EU regulations, which give effect to directives on facilities for ship generated waste and cargo residues, the EU vessel traffic monitoring and information system and the Sea Pollution (Miscellaneous) Bill 2003, which is before the Oireachtas. I hope I can move it on as quickly as possible.

The sensitive areas regulation will come into force on 1 July 2005 for single hull vessels carrying heavy fuel. They must report 24 hours in advance of entering the sensitive areas. I hope I have clarified the situation in regard to amendment No. 6. It is not weakening the legislation in any way. It stands alone in regard to the discharge of oil under the Sea Pollution Act 1991. This deals with liability and compensation in regard to incidents of hazardous waste.

See this speech in context