Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Carey for raising this important issue. I acknowledge what a tragedy the Whiddy Island disaster was and express my deepest sympathies to those who died and the families they left behind. A tribunal of inquiry was established in April 1979, with the High Court judge, Mr. Justice Declan Costello, being appointed to lead the inquiry. A number of public hearings with oral testimony were conducted throughout 1979 and Mr. Justice Costello submitted his report in May 1980. The report concluded that a number of factors contributed to the disaster, including the poor condition of the French-registered oil tanker, along with Gulf Oil not following the correct safety procedures and a lack of regulation of the safety of oil jetties. The then Minister for Labour put in place the Dangerous Substances (Oil Jetties) Regulations in 1979, which regulate the safety of oil jetties in the State. I understand there have been further developments in this area with the Health and Safety Authority publishing its code of practice for health and safety in dock work in 2016, which addresses safety arrangements at oil jetties. Given the broad range of issues involved across a number of Departments, the original report into the inquiry and any subsequent documentation will need to be reviewed in light of any request received from the families and a consensus reached across Government Departments on specific issues raised.

Separately, it is important to note that the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, MCIB, was only established as an independent body following the enactment of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) Act 2000, with a mandate to examine and, if necessary, carry out investigations into all types of marine casualties to, or on board, Irish-registered vessels worldwide and other vessels in Irish territorial waters and inland waterways.

The Deputy will be aware that on 9 July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union, CJEU, issued a judgment concerning the independence of the MCIB and the findings have since been addressed through the resignation of two board numbers in July last year and the introduction of amending regulations under the European Communities Act 1972. While these actions addressed the CJEU ruling from an EU perspective, separate revision of the 2000 Act is required to facilitate the appointment of new members of the MCIB. Drafting of the Bill to amend the Act of 2000 is at an advanced stage and it is hoped to progress the publication of the Bill in the coming period as a part of the Government's autumn legislative programme.

Separately, an independent review of the organisational structures for marine casualty investigation in Ireland was initiated in March of this year. The key objective of the review is to assess the current organisational structures for marine casualty investigation and to set out in a report any recommendations to achieve the most appropriate and effective marine casualty investigation structures for Ireland, taking into account national, EU and international obligations.

Following a competitive tender process, Clinchmaritime Limited was selected to undertake the review and tasked to report back to the Minister for Transport with recommendations on how Ireland should approach marine casualty investigations going forward. Clinchmaritime Limited is headed by Captain Steve Clinch, a former chief inspector of marine accidents in the UK's marine accident investigation branch who has experience working at a high level in EU and international capacities relating to marine casualty investigations. Captain Clinch began the review process in late March and a report on the review of organisational structures underpinning marine casualty investigation in Ireland has been submitted to my Department and is currently being examined.

See this speech in context