John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State and his officials. I will also adopt a consensual approach to the Chemicals Bill. Fine Gael has no objection to taking all Stages of the Bill today. The Minister of State outlined in detail the effects of different sections. The Bill relates to a number of directives that have been transposed into Irish law, principally the REACH directive to which he referred a number of times in his speech. One of the main tenets of the Bill is the transfer of the burden of proof regarding testing and evaluation to the industry as opposed to different agencies that were responsible heretofore.

I welcome the main provisions of the Bill, which provides for new national codes of practice. I welcome that it provides for the Health and Safety Authority to review the legislation and to make proposals to the Minister as appropriate. The Bill also designates as national authorities the HSA, the Revenue Commissioners, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in respect of pesticides, the Minister for Health and Children and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The primary aspect of the Bill is enforcement, particularly of the REACH directive. I welcome those enforcement provisions. The national authority may appoint inspectors, who will have stringent powers to inspect the chemicals industry, which I welcome. As the Minister of State pointed out they may at any time search any place to which the inspector has reasonable grounds for believing that the relevant chemical statutory provisions apply. The inspector may require that a location and anything at it be left undisturbed. The inspector may require that the person in charge produce any chemical or report relevant to the chemicals directive. The inspector may remove records from a location as relevant. The inspector may require the person in charge to give the inspector any such assistance as necessary. The inspector may take samples of air, soil, water or waste near or at the place where the chemicals are located. The inspector may also install monitoring instruments, which represents a step in the right direction. The inspector may require the person in charge to supply any chemical or samples thereof or may remove any chemical or samples thereof when an inspection is taking place. I welcome these provisions and that the inspection process will be given teeth.

As a result of the new powers being given to inspectors a number of sanctions will be placed at their disposal in their implementation of the legislation. The Minister referred to the contravention notice and the prohibition notice. Under the legislation an inspector may apply to the High Court for an order prohibiting the activity, which is welcome. I also welcome that the authority may compile and publish a list of persons in breach of the provisions of the Bill. It is an old chestnut in this Chamber with a Senator from the other side of the House who is keen on naming and shaming. I welcome that people who breach the regulations will be named and shamed.

Much of the law that governs this area is more than 40 years old. In recent years we have seen the introduction of a number of EU directives, including the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals, REACH, directive. This legislation seeks to transpose the main tenets of those directives into Irish law. I welcome that in the other House the Minister of State took on board a number of the concerns of the Opposition. Fine Gael has no objection to the second reading of the Bill.