Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)

I reiterate that the purpose of Part 5 of this Bill is to allow us to regulate offshore service vessels for the carriage of industrial personnel to service the offshore wind industry. There appears to be some confusion between the regulation of these vessels to service the offshore renewable energy, ORE, industry and the recent Government approval of the LNG terminal. They are two entirely separate issues. I know concerns were raised around the definition for offshore industrial activities in the Bill containing references to the hydrocarbon energy sector, but this is to reflect the definition used in the SOLAS Convention. I would like to clarify that different rules and certification apply to ships involved in the carriage of dangerous goods, such as LNG, which is not the case here. The vessels to be certified under this Bill will be used to carry industrial personnel to service the offshore wind industry.

With regard to using the word "may" in relation to the SOLAS Convention, I want to restate that it is our intention to apply the SOLAS Convention in full to ships that fall within its scope, which are generally larger ships on international voyages. This is an obligation we must meet as a party to the convention. However, some of the vessels, such as the smaller crew transfer vessels that will operate over and back to the wind farms, do not fall within the scope of the SOLAS Convention, as they will be operating on domestic voyages. I would like the flexibility to be able to apply the provisions of the SOLAS Convention to these smaller vessels as far as is practical and that is why we need to use the word "may" instead of "shall" here. We need to be able to determine the most appropriate safety standards for the vessel based on its size, purpose and area of operation. It will not be practical to apply the SOLAS Convention in full to small vessels that are not captured by the convention. In addition, it is practical to have the option to have different sets of rules for different types of vessels. However, it will be determined during the drafting process as to what rules are required and whether a single set can be used to cover a range of vessels. As such, the use of the word "may" is practical for that purpose.

Senator Higgins also wishes to make it mandatory for any rules to include survey requirements. Offshore service vessels cannot be provided with a certificate under section 48 of this Bill without first having undergone the appropriate survey. I can confirm that any rules drafted under this section will set out the detailed survey requirements.

For the reasons I have set out, I do not accept the amendments.