Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 76: To ask the Minister for Transport the stage the proposed consolidation of the 32 Merchant Shipping Acts 1894 to 2005 is at; when he will bring the consolidated Act before the Houses of the Oireachtas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24279/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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This is a long-term project, given the number and complexity of the Acts involved and my primary objective of reviewing and updating the primary legislation on merchant shipping. The consolidation phase of this project is to provide a consolidated working text of all the extant Acts, on which the review can then be based. It is not my intention to prepare a Consolidation Act per se, but rather to introduce in due course a modern, updated and single replacement Merchant Shipping Act.

The informal consolidation phase of the project should be completed by the end of the year. The review will take place in 2008, to be followed by the preparation of a new Merchant Shipping Bill. Merchant shipping is a complex and rapidly evolving sector, given its globalised nature, the increasing focus on the safety agenda, the pace of change driven by international maritime conventions and the European Union, and the rise in marine leisure activities. It is important that the framework for Ireland's merchant shipping legislation is both up to date and flexible, and that is my objective in pursuing this project.