Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank him for bringing this legislation forward. In one sense it is a transfer of functions from one Department to another but it is also about tidying up existing legislation and strengthening regulation. That is welcome.

The Bill transfers certain functions from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government to the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, as well as some functions under the Harbours Act 1996. With regard to the Harbours Act, there is no reference in this Bill to the transportation of radioactive material. I presume it is covered under the air transport legislation but what regulation do we have for that area? How do we supervise it? There has been criticism previously of flights that go through Shannon Airport, for example. In the case of shipping we know exactly what is involved, but do we have any checks and balances in respect of the airline sector and the transport of radioactive material or goods that might contain such material? Where does that fit into the regulation? I do not see a reference to it in the Bill. Perhaps it is already covered by the legislation covering the airline industry. It would be interesting to have that clarified.

We can sometimes take our eye off the ball in this regard because we believe everybody else is keeping an eye on it and that there are proper safety measures all over the place. However, at times a recheck is necessary to ensure we have the checks and balances in place especially with regard to something like this where if something goes wrong the effects can be really detrimental. We must be extremely watchful and careful in that context. I welcome the legislation bringing the regulation under one Department rather than it being spread over a number of Departments, but the issue with the airline area is something on which I seek clarification.