Derek McDowell (Labour)

The point made by Senator Ryan is a good one. I am not altogether confident of the terminology of our amendment but it is more than reasonable to point out that subparagraph (c)already defines a difference and puts obligations on a carrier in respect of non-nationals. That in turn suggests that there is, therefore, a requirement on ship owners, for example, to distinguish a non-national from a national. I am not sure how they are meant to do that. Are they to corral non-nationals into a hold of the ship? Nevertheless, as things stand there is a clear obligation on them to distinguish between the two. It seems to me that is not reasonable.

With regard to what the Minister has just said about the liability of a carrier, I am not sure that I am in sympathy with this idea. Brittany Ferries, for example, is a large and profitable carrier owned by a French company. It is not reasonable for the State to impose even on that company an obligation to ensure that people disembark through a particular channel in Rosslare. Surely it is our job to use our immigration forces, if that is the right word, to ensure that is done in the way we want it done. To say the ship owner has some responsibility for that is an extension of a liability which is not reasonable. Whatever one may say about checking documentation when passengers embark, to say it is the ship owner's responsibility rather than ours to see they disembark in a certain way is not reasonable.

I assume immigration officers have powers to enter and search ships docked in Irish ports.