John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

As it stands, any ship coming into Irish waters must have on board an emergency plan and any authorised officer of the State has a right to seek this plan. If the ships mentioned by Senator Daly and Senator Finucane were in difficulties, we would have our own emergency plans to deal with it. Ireland was notified of the passage plan of these ships and the fact that they would be travelling 35 miles south of Irish waters. We were kept fully informed all the way. It is to be hoped there will not be any problems because these ships are sailing close to the coast.

Generally, ships have their own emergency plans on board which may be requested by authorised officials. We also have our own plans in place for emergencies and we have seen these swing into action in the past. Port authorities have their own plans, as do local authorities, and our own Department deals with tugs, transponders and so on.