Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

What about the "ghost ships" which are currently the subject of controversy? Does this amendment cover these? If there was a pollution incident involving one of these ships outside Irish territorial waters, does this legislation empower the Minister to take any action? How would an incident such as this be handled? The marine environment is threatened by this new development. These ships, which are coming from the USA, do not appear to be covered under this international protocol.

If there was an incident, what action could be taken by the Irish authorities to deal with it? Would it be covered under the convention? Would the incident be dealt with by other member states along with Ireland? The ships are travelling outside the Irish jurisdiction so it seems the legislation we have is not adequate to cover them. Where there are hazardous vessels within the vicinity of Irish territorial seas, there is the likelihood of a major incident because of gales and so on. Do we have legislation to empower Irish authorities to take action to deal with an emergency such as this?