Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The amendments in group 3 - Nos. 6 to 8, inclusive, and No. 17 - bring further clarity to the penalties that will apply where offences arise relating to the certificate of registry on board a ship. Section 28 provides for the issuing of a certificate of registry by the Minister when a ship is registered on the Irish Register of Ships. Amendment No. 6 inserts a specific offence provision, a new subsection (5), where there is a failure to comply with the general requirement in subsection (4)(a) to carry a certificate of registry on board a ship at all times. The amendment clarifies that where this requirement is not complied with, the owner or master of the ship concerned will be held responsible for the offence.

The related technical amendment to the renumbered subsection (7), amendment No. 7, ensures that a specific offence provision for non-compliance with subsections (4)(b) or (4)(c) and the renumbered subsection (6) is contained in the Bill.

Amendment No. 8 is a further consequential technical amendment to the renumbered subsection (13) to include a reference to the new subsection (5) and make it clear that a person who fails to comply with the requirements of the subsections listed in subsection (13) is liable on summary conviction to a class C fine.

Section 65 allows for the prosecution of both the owner and the master of a ship in the case of specified offences under the Bill where it is shown that the owner or master, as the case may be, consented to, approved of or connived in the commission of the offence. Amendment No. 17 arises from the insertion of the new subsection (5) in section 28 and adds a reference to an offence under section 28(5) to the list of offences for the purposes of section 65. The offences in section 28(5) relate to failure by the owner or master of a ship to comply with the general requirement to carry a certificate of registry on board a ship at all times. The inclusion of a reference to section 28(5) in the list of specified offences in section 65 brings consistency to the section, which already includes a reference to sections 23(9) and 24(6), which provide for offences relating to failure by the owner or master of a ship to carry the certificate of temporary registration or of visitor registration, respectively, on board the ship at all times.