Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 27, line 15, to delete "and no later than 24 hours" and substitute "within 180 minutes".

The amendment relates to what seems like an inordinate delay in the time allowed for the commission to be informed about any immediate danger or risk to human health in relation to a petroleum incident. The Bill provides for a timeframe of "no later than 24 hours". As I pointed out earlier, in the case of Deepwater Horizon, 8,000 barrels of oil were lost in 24 hours. In the amendment, we submitted a figure of 180 minutes. It is not asking much of somebody to pick up the phone within three hours to inform the Government about an incident. Twenty-four hours looks like an awfully long time in which somebody could be sitting back.

This is only about process. We want to ensure that operators, rather than spending time trying to solve the problem internally, inform the State as soon as is reasonably practicable. At least there is a defined figure here of 24 hours, but I think the Minister of State would agree that 24 hours, in view of the immediate danger to human health from a petroleum-related incident, is too long. We do not want operators to sit back and say "We have another 23 hours and 59 minutes before we have to inform the Government." I ask the Minister of State to accept the amendment. Even 180 minutes, or three hours, does not seem to represent an emergency. One would imagine that 60 minutes would be appropriate, but we will give them 180 minutes if they feel they need to assess it for a little longer than that.