Written question asked by Chris Ruane (Labour) on Tuesday, 21 July 1998, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 24 July 1998. It was answered by Angela Eagle (Labour) on Friday, 24 July 1998 on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Dept of the Environment Transport and the Regions

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, what assessment he has made of the effect of tributyle tin from the hulls of ships on the marine environment in the Irish Sea. - Inc ref to report in Department's library.

Answer: Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the effect of tributyl tin from the hulls of ships on the marine environment in the Irish Sea. [52192] Angela Eagle: The relevant Government Departments and Agencies in the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, and in the Republic of Ireland are jointly taking the lead in the production of a Regional Quality Status Report on the Celtic Seas, including the Irish Sea. The Marine and Land Based Inputs to Sea Research Programme of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions has recently received the final report of a research contract into the effects of tributyl tin in western coastal waters. This report, which is available from the Department's library, will form part of the overall Celtic Seas assessment, one of the five regional assessments on which the Quality Status Report of the North East Atlantic, being prepared by the Ospar Commission, will be based. The Ospar report is due for publication by the year 2000.

Secondary information