Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I recognise that the Minister is intent on changing the Bill. However, I am not necessarily convinced that the change involved is significant. I acknowledge that the Minister, on the advice of his officials, is seeking to amend the position. I appreciate that Ministers are obliged to act on the advice they receive in order to bring forward the best legislation possible. In that context, one of the avenues which tends to be taken - I stress that this is not a power grab on the part of the current Minister - is to give future Ministers as wide a latitude as possible to amend legislation without being obliged to return to the House to do so. This means that as few principles, policies and constraints as possible will apply.

The amendment in my name suggests that the bare bones of the information relating to the identities of those who own ships or who have mortgages on them should be accessible to the public. I am not stating that there should not be restrictions or that people should not be obliged to pay a fee in order to obtain certain information from the relevant documents. I understand that such restrictions and fees apply in respect of the UK register and in the context of the property register here. Amendment No. 2 in the Minister's name states that "A person shall have access to the Register in accordance with regulations made by the Minister and such regulations may include ... the nature and extent of such access". I accept that this is an advance on what is currently contained in the legislation and I commend the Minister on seeking to amend the position. Is there any reason we could not go a step further and state "the register shall be available for public inspection in accordance with regulations made by the Minister and such regulations may include ... the nature and extent of such access ... different categories of access ... and the amount of any fee to be charged for such access"? This would enshrine in the primary legislation the fact that the register shall be available for public inspection in accordance with regulations. Making information available for public inspection is a key aspect of open and transparent government. If this changes the meaning and the manner of what is involved and makes it unacceptable, perhaps the Minister might address why the section could not be changed to read "the register shall be available for public inspection in accordance with regulations made by the Minister" when we come to deal with amendment No. 2.

I thank the Minister for tabling amendment No. 2 in response to the amendment I put forward.

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