EU member states, including Ireland, have been to the fore in recent years in advocating improvements at international level to safety standards for ships and the protection of the marine environment. Ireland was one of several EU member states which co-sponsored the request to the IMO leading to increased limits, which are the subject of the Bill now before us. EU member states were also prominent in adopting, and supporting the adoption, of the supplementary fund protocol. Following the incident involving the Erika, measures were introduced and agreed regarding the regulation of ship classification societies, the accelerated phasing out of single-hulled oil tankers, the strengthening of the port state control measures and ship-reporting arrangements.