Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Minister is familiar with the efforts of those who contributed to the committee in pre-legislative scrutiny. I refer in particular to Michael Kingston, who is also a bereaved family member in relation to Whiddy Island.

The catalogue of repeated failures is disturbing. The Whiddy Island disaster in 1979 should have focused minds. The Herald of Free Enterprisedisaster was in 1987, when the independent marine accident investigation unit was set up. That template emerged there. In 1998, the report of the investigation of marine casualties policy review group recommended international best practice. It did not happen.

It is a serious matter that the Róisín Lacey report of 2010 was revealed through a whistleblower when it should have been published by the Minister's Department long ago. That recommended a multinodal accident investigation office to cover air, marine and rail, like the Swedish model. It was not acted upon. That has led to a complaint being sent to An Garda Síochána by Michael Kingston. This could not be more serious. The complaint alleges that these failures have led unnecessarily to lives being lost at sea.

In 2020, there was a humiliating judgment in Europe. There is huge expense again and again and failure by the Department to ensure a truly independent board. The Captain Clinch report still has not been published. Reports have repeatedly not been published or acted upon. It is failure after failure.

The Minister is asking us to take a leap of faith and trust the Department responsible for that widespread catalogue of failure. As my colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, said, our party cannot support this. I am our fisheries and marine spokesperson and I tell the Minister that we believe this is disrespectful and represents part of the catalogue of examples I could give that demonstrate the lack of respect.

There are only two island states in the European Union, namely, Ireland and Cyprus. We should have a proper process that protects families and provides training, support and protection to those at sea, whether involved in leisure or fisheries. Michael Kingston has been assisting the families of Gerry Doherty and Thomas Weir, who died tragically in Donegal. I have profound concerns about the findings in that regard. Michael Kingston and others say that, had there been the necessary training and support for people who go to sea, those lives did not have to be lost. I could give many other examples.

This was an opportunity for the Minister to do something comprehensive. In the pre-legislative scrutiny provided, there was an offer to draft legislation using templates from international best practice. As it happens, the Minister had draft legislation from the Róisín Lacey report all those years ago. That was just buried and not acted upon. A complaint has gone to An Garda Síochána, I think rightly. The Minister needs to oversee a review of how the hell that was not implemented at the time and why it did not appear among the other manifestations that come towards this legislation.

The Minister is asking people to take a leap of faith but people have lost faith in how the Department of Transport has handled this over the years. It could not be more serious. We will oppose this Bill. We see it as a missed opportunity by the Minister to get this right with many people offering in good faith to assist.

The Minister will have seen that from the transcript of the committee meeting and he will have seen the offers available there. Whatever way he deals with this tonight, it is necessary for him to move towards a model based on what is in place in Sweden. I refer to what was recommended all those years ago, in 2010, in the Róisín Lacey report. All these endeavours must come under the one roof and there must be total independence, which people can have faith in. When tragedies happen, and sadly they do happen, we must learn lessons from them and try to not repeat those mistakes again. Unfortunately, there is a catalogue and a chronology of failure here that the Minister must get his head around. Whatever way he deals with this tonight, he needs to go away and then come back with proper legislation containing a completely independent system that will give people faith that mistakes will not be repeated when tragedies happen.

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