Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State with responsibility for labour affairs and public service transformation, Deputy Calleary. I also welcome the introduction of the Chemicals (Amendment) Bill 2010. The Minister of State has been extremely active in ensuring that European directives are transposed into Irish law. It is important that we should comply in the context of such transposition, particularly as the issue of Ireland's stance in respect of EU legislation often arises at European Council meetings. Today is particularly important as far as Europe is concerned.

While the Bill is not long, it is certainly important and we should give due consideration to it. As the Minister of State indicated, the Bill's main purpose is to amend the Chemicals Act 2008 to ensure it meets certain criteria regarding European Union regulations on the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, a replacement EU regulation on the export and import of dangerous chemicals implementing the Rotterdam Convention and periodic technical amendments to these two EU regulations and to the EU REACH and detergents regulations.

It is important to highlight why EU directives are being transposed into Irish law. The directives represent the EU's attempt to implement the United Nations globally harmonised system of classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals. Given the global trade in chemicals and the need to develop programs to ensure their safe use, transport and disposal, it was recognised that an internationally-harmonised system for classification and labelling would be desirable. Such an approach would facilitate the creation of national frameworks to control chemical exposures and, ultimately, protect the people we aim to serve. Ireland's acceptance of these changes is essential and I believe in supporting the pharmaceutical industries which operate from Ireland and which are helping us drive exports. Our exports must be in line with European Union and global standards and the Chemical (Amendment) Bill 2010 allows us do this.

I welcome a number of measures contained in this Bill. In particular, I welcome the creation of offences in section 9 which amends the original section 29 of the Chemicals Act 2008 for the breaches of the classification, labelling and packaging regulations. This section also allows for penalties to be imposed. The maximum custodial sentence has now been raised to 12 months. This is a justifiable increase in the sentence, especially given the seriousness of the issues concerned. Anyone who endangers society through the misclassification or fraudulent packaging of chemicals should face a period in prison, and it is important the matter is policed effectively. I welcome this development.

I note from the Minister of State's contribution in the other House in mid-October that the Health and Safety Authority has set up a dedicated help desk to provide information and assistance to manufacturers and importers to ensure they comply with the new regulations. That is a positive move. This is an important service and I urge companies with concerns to make use of it.

Another aspect of this Bill is the European Union regulation concerning the export and import of highly dangerous chemicals. It allows for the implementation of the Rotterdam Convention which aims to promote shared responsibility and co-operative efforts in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals to contribute to their environmentally sound use by facilitating information exchange about their characteristics and to provide for a national decision-making process in their import and export. These are important regulations.

The transportation of acrylic nitrate from Dublin Port across Ireland to Ballina would have affected the Minister of State's area at one time when the Asahi plant was in that area. We tolerated that situation because of the importance of jobs in his area and the same reciprocal arrangement should be made in the case of the distribution of our much needed gas off the west coast. We were prepared to co-operate fully with the Asahi plant in Ballina and I hope those on the west coast in the Minister of State's constituency of Mayo will ensure gas flows as quickly as possible. We need it very badly indeed. The protests put forward are legitimate, but I can assure the House that if the train carrying the acrylic nitrate product had blown up or crashed, the town of Roscommon would have been wiped out. That is how dangerous the chemical was and that is why this Bill is particularly important. It is an indication of how times have changed. As far as I am aware, we were not in support of the Asahi plant in Killala. It probably would have been better had the product been imported by sea to that plant but, nevertheless, I make the point that these regulations would cover that type of transportation of hazardous materials. The Bill is bringing them up to date. As Senator O'Toole stated, all of these chemicals involve certain dangers.

This Bill brings us in line with European Union thinking and European Union regulations. That is why the Minister of State has given the matter priority in the Department to ensure these regulations are brought in to legislation. It is something that has been criticised here, that we, not only Ireland but most of the 27 countries, are not moving. There are quite a number of European Union regulations that have been agreed by the Commission and the Parliament but have not been brought into Irish and other law. The Minister of State is doing an excellent job in bringing this forward today. I commend the Bill to the House and I hope it is unanimously adopted.