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

I thank Deputy Carey. In regard to meeting the Whiddy Island families, I would of course be happy to meet them, as would the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, if any request was made to my office to do so. I again want to say that any request from the families will of course be considered by all Departments involved, taking account of the report of the tribunal of inquiry and any subsequent information available.

Maritime safety is a key concern of my Department. There have been great changes in the maritime sector generally in terms of technology and updated safety procedures over the past number of years. My Department is committed to ensuring the safety of the sector and all of those who work in it. More recently, a review of maritime regulations was undertaken in 2020 and earlier this year my Department published its strategy for the next five years for the Irish Maritime Directorate, which includes actions to progress the development of maritime safety legislation. Work is ongoing with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on an amendment to the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) Act 2000, which was subject to extensive pre-legislative scrutiny earlier this year. It is hoped to progress this Bill through the autumn session.

As I also mentioned, the independent report into the organisational structures underpinning marine casualty investigation in Ireland is currently being considered by my Department. It is worth noting that, simultaneous to the review, officials in the Department of Transport ran a public consultation is between March and May of this year and the submissions received on foot of this consultation were provided in full to Captain Clinch to inform his review. Finally, I would like to once again express my sincere condolences to those affected by the Whiddy Island disaster.

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