Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I move amendment No. 32:

In page 23, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

"(2) Where a person has a concentration of alcohol in the breath which exceeds the maximum permissible concentration applicable to a person in charge of a motor vehicle, he or she shall be presumed to be under the influence of alcohol to such an extent as to be incapable of properly controlling or operating a vessel or carrying out a task or duty for the purposes of subsection (1).".

This is a key amendment. I am glad we have a chance to discuss the matter in the short time available. The point of the amendment relates to persons being in charge of water craft while under the influence of alcohol or alcohol products. I am amazed that Deputy Eamon Ryan, who is not present, sought to delete section 28 because the Minister has at least tried to introduce a connection between the wrongful use of alcohol and being in charge of a vessel or pleasure craft.

Section 28 states:

A person being in command or in charge or another member of the crew of a vessel in Irish waters anywhere shall not operate or control or attempt to operate or control the vessel or carry out any task or duty in relation to such operation or control while he or she or the other is under the influence of alcohol or a drug or any combination of drugs or drugs and alcohol . . .

When the Labour Party considered this matter before Second Stage, the key difficulty we identified related to definitions and what instructions the Bill gives the courts and authorised officers who will try to implement it.

We considered the work of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board — I commend it for its work since 2002 — and the series of reports it made into a number of disasters, for example, the collision between the yacht Debonair and the cargo ship Bluebird in 2001, which unfortunately and tragically resulted in the deaths of four people. In light of the board's investigation, there was a strong recommendation in its report concerning the question of setting a maximum blood alcohol level for seafarers in a bid to strongly combat the dangerous role alcohol could play in marine accidents. We might also recall the Marchioness disaster on the Thames some years earlier.

The Irish Water Safety Association in 2002 stated that alcohol consumption played a role in 37% of water fatalities. Moreover, the Marine Casualty Investigation Board recommended adopting the standard advocated by the International Maritime Organisation, similar to that for driving on land, of 0.08% blood alcohol level, or 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, as a minimum safety measure. The International Maritime Organisation in section B of the 1995 revised International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, STC 78/79, called for all members to adopt this and to prohibit the consumption of alcohol four hours prior to working aboard a vessel.

The Bill certainly deals with the criminal use of alcohol concerning the people in charge of a vessel, or those carrying out key functions on a vessel. This includes small pleasure craft, but the difficulty is that the Minister of State has not sought to lay down a standard, and that should have been done. The 84 deaths per annum that have occurred are 84 deaths too many and if alcohol played a role in any deaths on water it should be the job of this House to ensure that it does not happen again. We should take a strong line.

This is the first time we have legislation apart from regulations laid down for masters and mariners regarding important responsibilities on board vessels The maritime safety directorate has consistently pursued this in recent years. Concerning smaller pleasure craft such as jet skis, we should lay down a clear standard. Other jurisdictions have answered the International Maritime Organisation's request, and Ireland, as a maritime, seafaring nation that enjoys the water, should adopt such a standard. This would show that we do not believe that the consumption of alcohol is compatible with being in charge of a vessel. I urge the Minister to accept amendment No. 32.

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