Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 9 and 10 are textual amendments to improve the wording of section 18(2), which relates to provisional registration. Amendment No. 11 relates to section 18(3), which provides for the granting of non-operative registration in respect of a ship owned by a qualified person to facilitate the certification or licensing of the ship. The purpose of non-operative registration is to assist ships that require certification or licensing in order to register as a particular type of ship. For example, a sea-fishing boat will require a sea-fishing boat licence and a passenger boat will require a passenger boat licence. A cargo ship will also require certain certificates. Non-operative registration allows a ship to be on the register subject to compliance with any relevant certification or licensing requirements that apply to the ship. Non-operative registration may also be necessary after the initial registration of the ship in circumstances, for example, in which a licence or certificate has expired or a ship is sold and transferred to a new owner. In the case of a sea-fishing vessel, for example, the new owner may not have completed a process to obtain a sea-fishing boat licence under the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003.

Amendment No. 11 seeks to clarify the position and address the fact that non-operative registration may arise at any time, including as part of a process towards initial full registration, or subsequent to registration, in the circumstances mentioned where necessary certificates or licences are no longer available. It is connected to the previous set of amendments.