Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is welcome to the House and this Bill is also welcome. I went to live in Howth 40 years ago and I live by the sea. Over those years, I have grown very fond of seeing the amount of activity that takes place on it. We recently had a visitor from Hull who could not get over it. He told me that when he was growing up, Hull was as busy as is Dublin Bay now. However, it is very exciting to look at Dublin Bay and to see the amount of activity, the number of cargo ships and even more so, the number of cruise ships coming in. It is a real way of life to watch the pilot boat going out and bringing them in.

I wish to add to something that Senator Bacik mentioned. We see the Irish Coast Guard being used and saving lives on such a regular basis, both on the cliff face and out at sea.

I wish to raise some brief points related in some way to this Bill, which aims to improve the shipping registration system. I have previously mentioned the lack of a small ships register in this country. Therefore, it is impossible to trace the ownership of most private boats unless they have a current free Shannon licence. We debated the move to charge vessel owners even without this basic and fundamental registration in place. Specifically, I note that this Bill will not include recreational craft less than 24 m in load line length, other than personal watercraft and small fast powered craft, which are required to register, and that warships will not be required to register. Can the Minister elaborate on whether we could move towards having a small ships register and not only one for merchant shipping? If the Government is going to charge people to use our waterways, this basic provision should be put in place.

Are there any plans by the Government to adopt the UK model in this country, whereby every boat on the waterways must have a boat safety certificate, which includes checks on gas and fuel lines and such matters? We have talked a good deal in the Seanad about safety and preventable deaths. We should be looking towards improving safety on all our areas of shipping and waterways and not only in the area of merchant shipping.

While this Bill is welcome, we should be looking towards major issues that need to be tackled, such as mandatory boat insurance, mandatory safety devices, about which Senator Bacik spoke, and the issuing of safety certificates in tandem with such legislation. Arguably, such moves are more important. We should be examining these matters much more closely and we should at least have a debate on them in the Seanad. It would be a way to push forward these crucial issues, which are very important. Every time there is a death at sea or in the water we realise how important they are.

On a specific issue related to this Bill, can the Minister elaborate on whether an audit will be done of the registry and, if so, by whom it will be done? I did not notice a provision for this in the Bill but perhaps it is included and I missed it. Perhaps the Bill should provide for an outside body in this respect to ensure we have the most the most accurate and up-to-date registry. I would be interested to hear the Minister's view on this.

This Bill is worthy of support. I believe the Minister will get support for it, and he is getting support for it today. I congratulate him on taking a step in this direction, although there are other elements that could be added to it.