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Maritime Safety Act 2005
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Amendment of Harbours Act 1996.

58.—The Harbours Act 1996 is amended—

(a) by substituting for subsections (1) and (2) of section 6 the following:

“(1) A person guilty of an offence under section 46, 50, 52, 53, 60 or 77 is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €1,000,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or both.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under this Act (other than section 46, 50, 52, 53, 60 or 77) is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000.”,

(b) by inserting after section 6 the following:

“Fixed payment notice.

6A.—(1) Where a member of a company's harbour police (within the meaning of section 54), has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is committing or has committed an offence under section 42, 47, 48, 49, 61, 66, 71, 76 or 92(10) in the harbour for which he or she is such a member, he or she may serve the person with a notice, in the form specified by the company in bye-laws under section 42, stating that—

(a) the person is alleged to have committed the offence, and

(b) the person may during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of the notice make to the company concerned at the address specified in the notice a payment of—

(i) €300, in respect of committing an offence, other than an offence under section 42 or 71, or

(ii) such other amount, of not more than €300 but not less than €50, as specified in bye-laws made under section 42, in respect of committing an offence under section 42 or 71, as the case may be,

or such other amount in lieu of any of those amounts as stands specified in regulations made by the Minister, accompanied by the notice, and

(c) a prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will not be instituted during the period specified in the notice and, if the payment specified in the notice is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will be instituted.

(2) Where notice is given under subsection (1)—

(a) a person to whom the notice applies may, during the period specified in the notice, make to the company at the address specified in the notice the payment specified in the notice accompanied by the notice,

(b) the company specified in the notice may receive the payment, issue a receipt for it and retain the money paid, and any payment received shall not be recoverable in any circumstances by the person who made it,

(c) a prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall not be instituted in the period specified in the notice, and if the payment so specified is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall be instituted.

(3) In a prosecution for an offence under a provision mentioned in subsection (1) the onus of proving that a payment pursuant to a notice under this section has been made lies on the defendant.”,

and

(c) in section 42, by inserting after subsection (3) the following:

“(4) (a) If a company proposes to make bye-laws under subsection (1) it shall publish a notice of the proposal in one or more newspapers circulating in the vicinity of the harbour to which the proposal relates.

(b) A notice under paragraph (a) shall contain a statement in general terms of the purposes for which the proposed bye-laws are to be made and an intimation that—

(i) a copy of the draft bye-laws is open for public inspection at a place in the harbour specified in the notice, and

(ii) a person may submit to the company objections to the draft bye-laws at any time during the period of 21 days commencing on the day of the first publication of the notice.

(c) The company shall, during the period of 21 days, keep a copy of the draft bye-laws open for public inspection at the place specified in the notice.

(d) Any person who objects to the draft bye-laws may submit his or her objections to the company in writing at any time during the period of 21 days. The company shall consider the objections.

(e) On the expiration of the period of 21 days, the company shall, as it thinks proper, refrain from making the bye-laws or make the bye-laws either without modification or with such modification, as it thinks proper.

(5) A copy of bye-laws for the time being in force under subsection (1) in relation to a harbour shall be made available, by the company which made them, for inspection by the public at the harbour during ordinary office hours. The company shall make available to the public at such price (if any) as may be determined by the company copies of bye-laws for the time being in force relating to the harbour.”.