Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is welcome. I congratulate him on his appointment.

I remember all those who lost their lives in maritime accidents across the country - those whose bodies have been recovered and those whose remains, unfortunately, have not been recovered. I imagine it is a very personal and tragic issue for all families of those who have lost their lives.

Maritime safety, like safety in any industry or profession, is important. The Minister of State acknowledged in his contribution that he wanted "to take this opportunity to acknowledge Ireland’s robust, internationally recognised maritime safety regime." He also stated: "We are among the best performers of IMO member states under the IMO member state audit scheme, which rigorously examines the maritime safety functions of the State, including accident investigation." Based on that, one could ask why we were changing things at all and why doing so was necessary if our performance was so good. There was a European Commission judgment or case against Ireland regarding the independence of the marine casualty investigation board. I wish to make it clear that I have not had any engagement or contact with the marine investigation board or its members or had the benefit of sitting on the transport committee Senator Craughwell sat on in respect of this Bill. Was there an issue with or concern regarding the board's independence? I find it a strange matter, given both the European Commission's decision and the Minister of State's own statement that the new body would "be independent of any person or body whose interests could conflict with it." It begs the question of whether a previous conflict was uncovered and raised concerns, leading to this Bill. Clearly, the European Commission deemed it so.

Senator Craughwell said the Clinch report was not published, but the Bills Digest we received on this Bill refers to the Clinch report's recommendations. I presume the recommendations are public knowledge if the Bills Digest had them or it did not just get them.