Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 8, between lines 40 and 41, to insert the following:"(3) The Minister shall issue a clear definition on what constitutes 'as low as is reasonably practicable'.".

This is an issue we raised on Second Stage. Section 3 provides that the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, has a responsibility to ensure the risk of accidents offshore as a consequence of the activities of petroleum developers is "as low as is reasonably practicable". That is a very vague term and surely not the world's greatest definition. Will the Minister of State indicate how the concept has been defined in legislation in other jurisdictions? The current wording does not provide any clear benchmark or standard to be applied. The petroleum companies' version of what constitutes "as low as is reasonably practicable" might be very high compared with that of environmentalists, which could be very low indeed. The wording is too vague and I am interested to know what definition is used in legislation in other countries.