Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Under section 135, special protection is deemed to apply to wrecks 100 years old or more. Dáil amendment No. 127 also applies special protection to registered and prescribed monuments situated on, in or under land covered by water. This will ensure that section 135 better relates to section 136 in the context of the activities that are prohibited at registered and prescribed monuments situated underwater.

Dáil amendment No. 129 replicates section 26(2) to avoid situations where another licensing authority would be required to obtain a licence under the Bill, for example, where the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, which is the licensing authority for dumping at sea, would be required to obtain a licence under the Bill if that dumping was in the vicinity of a historic wreck.

Paragraph (3)(b) of the new subsection provided by Dáil amendment No. 129 makes it explicitly clear that the person proposing to dump material at sea would need both a licence from the EPA and a licence under the Bill if that dumping was proposed to be in the vicinity of a wreck or underwater monument.