Results 561-580 of 13,253 for speaker:Pat Gallagher

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: I am advised that the words "regulating or controlling the operation of craft" are an essential for any by-laws to be made under section 4. Senators will appreciate that the Oireachtas has responsibility for primary legislation. If the Oireachtas or the Minister delegate responsibilities to other bodies then it would be somewhat dangerous to leave them open-ended or to give the bodies...

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: This is merely a technical amendment. It allows the relevant by-law making authority the discretion to confine its by-laws to specific classes of craft which require priority attention, whether it be jet skis or certain types of speed boats as it may consider appropriate. The purpose of the Bill is to specifically target bad behaviour and nuisance in order to safeguard life and public...

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: I have difficulty in agreeing to this amendment giving local authorities the extra leeway suggested by Senator O'Meara. The amendment is too wide and somewhat vague for the Oireachtas. Under the Constitution we have responsibility for primary legislation and to decide the scope of by-laws that are made. It is necessary to set down in primary legislation the policies and principles to show the...

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: Amendment No. 22 is purely a technical amendment designed to clarify that craft may be boarded after stopping.

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: These amendments are self-explanatory. The purpose of the five amendments is to increase from €3,000 to €5,000 the maximum fine on summary conviction originally proposed in the Bill. This is in accordance with the recent decision of the Attorney General that the maximum fine for summary offences generally should be updated to increase the deterrent effect. In short it is to ensure the...

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: Amendment No. 24 is consequential on Government amendment No. 25 which provides comprehensively for the power to arrest suspected offenders without warrant. If I may refer to Senator Mooney's question, this is standard practice now and the House would agree that in a situation where jet skis or vessels are in water, in the time a warrant could be obtained for arrest a tragic accident may...

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: This provision would only be used in cases where there are extenuating circumstances. However, even one such circumstance is one too many. This provision is in place to cover potentially serious offences. Those of us living near waterways or on the coast know the consequences and that too often lives have been claimed. I take the point made by the Senator. This is a matter for the Garda...

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: This issue was raised at the initial stages of drafting this legislation. There is provision for hot pursuit, for example, for leaving Waterford and entering the functional area of Wexford or crossing the bay from Donegal to Sligo. If the legislation did not make provision for hot pursuit it would be weak and would not achieve its objective.

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: This amendment ensures that the benefit of forfeiture should go to the authority in whose functional area the offence was committed. This is to encourage authorities to actively enforce the law in their functional areas. The forfeiture of craft in addition to a fine and/or imprisonment may be imposed by the courts on conviction on indictment of a person for the dangerous operation of a craft....

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: This is a stylistic amendment, deleting unnecessary words.

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: The purpose of this amendment is to allow appointing authorities to appoint classes of persons, as well as individuals, as authorised persons for the purpose of Part 2 of the Bill. I will gladly deal with the related amendments Nos. 30 to 36, when required.

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: I had anticipated this question. Some harbour masters fear that the Bill's provisions for the appointment of authorised persons to enforce the law against improper use of fast powered water craft would interfere with their safety and their other duties under the Harbours Acts. I am advised that this fear is not well founded. Harbour masters are appointed by the port companies and I expect...

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: This is a technical drafting amendment and provides for a new section 35 of a new part 4 being inserted in the Bill, where they more relevantly belong. It will be dealt with in section 35, where I am advised it lies better and more comfortably.

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: This is the first in a batch of very substantive amendments. It inserts a new Part 3 into the Bill to prohibit the use of unseaworthy vessels and reckless behaviour on the water and provides for the preparation, publication and revision of safety codes to ensure the safe operation of vessels, including guidance for good environmental practice. Persons in charge of, or accruing vessels are...

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: This section provides for the seizure of unseaworthy vessels by the Garda and other person authorised by subsection (1). Subsection (2) allows for the recoupment of reasonable costs involved in seizing and detaining any such vessel as a condition for the release of the vessel.

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: This is the new section 20 and makes it an offence for a person to endanger persons on board a vessel through recklessness or lack of seamanship.

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: I am advised that this measure covers any other person or vessels in the vicinity. It is referred to in the early section, but it also covers the situation to which Senator Kenneally has referred.

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: This is the new section 21 and makes clear provision in primary legislation for prohibiting in section 1 and penalising in section 2 operation of any vessels in Irish waters and any Irish ships in waters anywhere by any person under the influence of alcohol or drugs or both. These provisions in primary legislation were recommended by the Office of the Attorney General to avoid challenge to...

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: The legislation to which the Senator refers is not applicable here. The garda can arrest, on suspicion of the person having consumed alcohol, even if the garda does not have a breathalyser at the time. This is a major step forward because heretofore one could be in control of a vessel while under the influence of alcohol and there was very little that could be done.

Seanad: Maritime Safety Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (20 Apr 2005)

Pat Gallagher: Our hands are tied until the Bill is enacted, which is all the more reason for me to take responsibility and co-operate with Senators to get the Bill through this House and on to the Dáil so that it can be enacted as quickly as possible. It is possible that accidents will occur between this and the date of enforcement. The legislation is rigorous. Suspicion is a more than sufficient basis on...