Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

This section deals with liquefied gas carriage rules, while a later section deals with the nuclear waste carriage rules. The requirements set out in the section are specific in terms of electrical installations, tank vent systems and so on. However, a phrase not included in the section which is included in other parts of the Bill and other legislation for which the Minister is responsible, that is, "or another matter that the Minister might deem appropriate". When having this discussion on other Bills and if I put in a specific point that the Minister should consider something in respect of regulation, the Minister or one of his representatives normally come back and say that he does not want to get too specific in case his hands are tied. That kind of welcome ambiguity is absent from this section. Perhaps sections such as these would be improved if the Minister still had scope to say that these are the areas in which he wants regulation implemented and then obeyed. This is especially the case given that we are talking about the transport of liquified gas. New events and new difficulties are always uncovered that might mean that some new regulation or safety procedure is merited in future.