Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

There will be no need to amend this Bill because no reference will have been made to the change in it. On foot of that, I warmly welcome the commitment given by the Minister. It must be said, one only has to listen to such a distinguished Deputy as Deputy P. J. Sheehan to realise how wonderful it is to have his kind of experience, eloquence and expertise available to the Dáil and to our profession. The element of experience with regard to key professions such as marine pilots is critical. I welcome the proposed change and look forward to it being in the next legislation.

With regard to the other amendments, the key element running through all of them was to ensure that there would be adequate consultation with pilots on the matters that would arise regarding the national ports. I hope the Minister bears this in mind when considering the limits of a port, boundaries, safety concerns and how visiting mariners are allowed to perform when in our ports, etc. All of these should be matters on which the Minister would liaise closely with the pilots.

I note from correspondence that the Department officials have been liaising closely with pilots, but perhaps this could be done on a more formal basis. I mentioned that before 1996 we had pilotage committees in each of the ports. There was no necessity to remove those committees following the 1996 Act, but they were allowed to fall into disuse. I urge the Minister to bring them back. There is probably still a statutory basis for them and we could bring them back.

I wish to indicate my strong support for Deputies P. J. Sheehan and Jim O'Keeffe for their amendments concerning Bantry.

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