John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senators for their contributions and support for the Bill and their agreement to have all Stages passed as quickly as possible.

The delay in the legislation was mentioned by a number of speakers and it is true it did not appear necessary to Governments since 1988 to give effect to the UN maritime convention and protocol which would have priority over other legislation. While there were terrorist incidents involving cruise liners and other ships since 1988, there was little, if any, international pressure for UN member states to give effect to the 1988 convention. The 11 September attacks and the Madrid bombings, however, have changed that and the UN Security Council passed a resolution on 28 September 2001 to urge all member states that had not done so to become party to the 1988 convention and protocol and to ten other instruments. Legislative priorities, however, delayed until now the drafting and initiation in Seanad Éireann of the Maritime Security Bill 2004 to give effect to the 1988 convention and protocol. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is also dealing with four of the other international instruments.

Maritime security measures for ports and ships will be in force from 1 July throughout and beyond the EU. The necessary preparations in Ireland are already well advanced and are being co-ordinated by the maritime safety directorate in my Department to ensure the deadline is met. I expect all Irish ports and ships to meet the new security arrangements so they will be able to continue to trade normally after 1 July.

The maritime safety directorate in the Department is currently involved in the process of co-ordinating the implementation of these new security measures. It is engaging with the relevant ship owners, ports and port facilities affected by the EU regulation and the ISPS code so that they will all be compliant by the 1 July deadline and able to trade normally. Two working groups have been established to achieve this, a multidisciplinary project team with representation from the Naval Service, the Garda Síochána and the maritime safety directorate, and an interdepartmental implementation committee, chaired by the Director General, Mr. Maurice Mullen, with representatives from my Department, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Transport, the Department of Defence, the Revenue Commissioners, the Naval Service and the Garda Síochána.

All the ports have submitted port facility security assessments setting out the current position of facilities regarding assets and vulnerabilities and project teams are verifying them. Assessments have been approved in Drogheda port, which has six individual port facilities, and in individual port facilities in Youghal, Sligo, Kenmare, New Ross, Arklow, Wicklow, Greenore and Killybegs. Further port facilities will be approved in the coming days, including Galway and Dundalk, and all of the remaining ports will be approved within the next two weeks. The large ports, Waterford, Cork and Dublin, will be fully compliant by 1 July.

A deadline of 30 April has been set for submission of port facility security plans to the Department and these plans will set out procedures to be taken by port facilities during normal working conditions and in the event of a terrorist threat. Under the new requirements, each ship must have on board a ship security plan approved by the administration and 90% of Irish vessels have submitted ship security assessments and plan verifications will start in mid-April.

Any non-compliant port facility will find it difficult to continue trading as most ships will refuse to deal with it. Similarly, non-compliant ships will be refused access to ports and port facilities after 1 July.

Other measures are being considered by the EU Commission, such as a proposal for a directive prescribing additional security measures for ports and surrounding areas and it is also proposed to amend the 1988 maritime convention and protocol, to which the Maritime Security Bill gives effect, to create additional offences relating to illegal carriage, use of weapons and explosives and, controversially, to provide extensive powers for states to stop, board and search ships on the high seas suspected of carrying such materials. Many areas of ship and port security are being considered.

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Cullen, is dealing with issues arising from Sellafield, an area which is primarily his responsibility, and I will pass Senator Finucane's concerns and fears on to him.

I assure the House that officials of my Department will continue to work on a pro-active basis with their counterparts in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Defence, the Garda Síochána, the industries concerned, their counterparts in the International Maritime Organisation of the UN and in other international fora to address maritime security issues and the concerns raised by Senators today, and to secure the timely updating of laws that may be required as we meet national, EU and other international needs.