Dermot Fitzpatrick (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

This much needed Bill is overdue. As a result of our developing economy, people have more wealth and leisure time and many of them buy jet skis or powerful boats. Therefore, we must regulate the maritime sector in some way in the interests of safety.

We often forget that the sea is dangerous and unpredictable. Urbanised people like me do not know much about it and tend to take it for granted because we generally only see it on sunny summer days. We do not see it when the weather changes and it is dangerous and threatening. While on the issue, I pay tribute to those who man our lifeboats and look after safety at sea or on our lakes and rivers.

We are considering regulation in the interests of safety. Perhaps on Committee Stage the Minister will adopt the attitude we had to take towards car testing. For many years people could buy any old banger, put it on the road, pay tax and insurance and drive away. Now we must have NCT tests every two years. These were a good idea. Rarely now do we see old dilapidated bangers on the road that are a danger to life and limb of all those on the road.

The Minister spoke about testing vessels greater than 24 metres in length. That is a rather large boat but I think he should consider testing pleasure boats, most of which are smaller than 24 metres in length. I have seen many that would be 20 feet in length and seen them used and abused on our waterways. The Minister should consider NCT-type testing of boats and equipment of all kinds used on water.

I am glad to see the legislation is strict with regard to the wearing of life-saving belts and jackets. Another issue about which I am concerned, as I have seen no reference to it, is that of drink or drug testing for boat crews. The sea is dangerous and unpredictable. To put to sea under the influence of alcohol or mind or mood altering drugs is a criminal act. It puts the person, the people in his or her care and other users of the sea in danger.

I gather the Minister's remit also extends to the foreshore but this is an issue not mentioned in the Bill or the Minister's speech. In this regard, I am thinking about the increasing use of dune buggies, large high powered four-wheeled machines which damage the fragile and delicate ecology of our sand dunes. Perhaps the Minister will consider the issue on Committee Stage.

I welcome the setting up of the national hydrographic survey. The Ordnance Survey surveyed the land back as far as the 1850s. I am glad its counterpart will now look after the foreshore, the seabed and the waters around our coasts. Some of the maps of our waters are years old. It is the nature of the sea, the foreshore and our river estuaries to change during the years. We must have accurate, up-to-date maps and charts if we are to increase safety levels at sea.

I commend the Minister and the Bill which I will support wholeheartedly in its passage through Committee, Report and Final Stages.

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