Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy asked about the provision of new courses. I will set up a meeting involving him and representatives in this area working in my Department to investigate what such courses could be.

In response to the Deputy's question, I checked the status of all the courses and certificates that are available. My Department has informed me that they all meet the requirements of the STCW convention. Because all of our certificates comply with IMO requirements, our current level of training and the certificates of our fishermen and marine employees are recognised across the world and are held in high regard.

When this was last examined, in August last, there were 518 holders of valid certificates of competency issued in Ireland across the different training courses that I have just mentioned. All of these levels of training and certification were held in high regard and allowed those who had this training to work across the world, because this level of training is recognised by the IMO. If Deputy Pringle is telling me there is a gap and that we should look at new training, I will directly engage with him on that and get more information from him on it.

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