Written answers

Tuesday, 11 June 2019

Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Maritime Safety Regulations

Photo of Louise O'ReillyLouise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

796. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to update the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) Act 2000. [23382/19]

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) Act 2000 dealt, in the main, with the establishment of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB). The MCIB is an independent statutory body whose main function, as outlined in the Act, is to investigate and publish reports into marine casualties that take place in relation to any vessel in Irish waters or to an Irish-registered vessel anywhere in the world.

The Act details how investigations are to take place and stresses that the purpose of an investigation is to establish the cause (or causes) of a marine casualty with a view to making recommendations for the avoidance of similar marine casualties. It is not the purpose of an MCIB investigation to attribute blame or fault.

In order to transpose an EC Directive from 2009 (Directive 2009/18/EC establishing the fundamental principles governing the investigation of accidents in the maritime transport sector), the Act is to be read as modified by the provisions of Statutory Instrument 276 of 2011 (the European Communities (Merchant Shipping) (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations 2011) in relation to any accidents covered by the Directive.

My Department will review the situation as appropriate.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.