Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome the Minister to the House. I very much welcome this Bill and its concentration on producing a modern registration system for Irish-registered vessels, including small inshore craft. My local authority in Galway, like others, had to introduce by-laws some years ago in an attempt to regulate the actions of jet-skis in Galway Bay. Registration of these vessels will go some way to ensuring their responsible use.

I have a few small queries regarding the Bill, principally the potential cost of registering craft used in the tourism industry. The Minister, to his credit, has had well-deserved success in resuscitating our tourism industry in the past three years. Prior to setting any tariff in regulation, will the Minister consult the various tourist organisations? While the registration of small craft such as commercial ghillie boats is to be welcomed to ensure adequate safety standards, I hope the Minister will be cognisant of the fact that many people with such craft only get seasonal work and do not make large amounts of money. At the same time, they contribute greatly to what is a very vibrant industry. Therefore, I hope the registration charge will be reasonable.

For clarity, can the Minister assure the angling community that registering under this legislation will not be a precursor for some form of boat tax, as some of the online commentary from the angling community suggests?

In regard to non-commercial boats less than 24 m in length, I wish to highlight some concerns of the Irish Sailing Association which I find reasonable. The vast majority of pleasure craft are less than 24 m in length and therefore do not require registration as long as they are non-commercial. However, owners of vessels wishing to travel abroad on their boats to nearly any country other than the UK would find it practical if they could register their boats here.

The downside to registering here is that small pleasure craft are then subject to the same terms and conditions as a super tanker. It seems reasonable that the conditions in registering a small pleasure craft should be less onerous than for large vessels. Perhaps the Minister might indicate whether he envisages an ability to voluntarily register a small vessel and have less burdensome conditions attached to the registration of smaller boats.

Additionally, there is a requirement under the Bill for proof of ownership prior to registration and while this is all well and good in the case of large vessels which may be owned by companies, the vast majority of small boats operating in Irish waters are fourth or fifth-hand and no bill of sale would be available, given that the sale of boats generally happens informally over many years. Will the Minister consider looking at this issue, perhaps requiring such owners to provide a sworn affidavit which would be sufficient for registration?

Section 46(3) of the Harbours Act 1996 conferred powers on the harbour master in providing for public safety. Given that a harbour master is required to have extensive experience in these matters, does the Minister not consider the Bill is inadvertently watering down public safety requirements since it confers this power on the harbour company as opposed to the harbour master? It seems to be a retrograde step and perhaps the Minister might look again at the provision.