Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I understand that the IMO's consideration of this matter should be completed by the end of this year or early next year. At that stage, the next maritime Bill to which I referred earlier in the context of my previous discussion with Deputy Broughan will be before us. If the IMO has finalised the standards it intends to introduce or if we have a good idea of the direction it intends to take in this regard, I will include the relevant provisions in the Bill to which I refer.

In some senses the Deputy is correct to state that the judgment that will have to be made with regard to whether a person is under the influence of alcohol or drugs initially will be subjective in nature and will be made by the senior officer present. I presume that the final decision will eventually be made by the master of the ship. As the Deputy stated, there is no measurement in place at present but we would like to see the 50 mg measurement being introduced. We will support the introduction of such a measurement.

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