Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 133: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the action his Department has taken to enforce work and pay conditions and ship maintenance conditions in respect of a ship (details supplied). [19412/07]

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Irish employment rights do not apply to the employees of ships that are not registered under the Irish flag. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment therefore does not have any power to enforce Irish employment rights legislation on board these ships.

The ship to which the Deputy refers is registered in Belize. The responsibility for the safety, rates of pay and living and working conditions on board this ship rests, therefore, with the ship operator/ship owner and the flag state Belize.

The International Labour Organisation, ILO, deals with living and working conditions on board ships internationally. ILO conventions are enforced by Port State Control Officers of the Department of Transport and Marine. In undertaking this role, the Department of Transport and Marine carries out port state control on foreign flagged ships operating in and out of Ireland. I understand that the Port State Control Officers from that Department inspected this ship in New Ross on the 15th of May, 2007. Several deficiencies were noted and as these posed significant risk to the safety of the crew, the ship was detained. In accordance with international law it is now the responsibility of the flag state Belize to re-inspect the ship and to invite the Port State Control Officers of the Department of Transport and the Marine to re-inspect it when all deficiencies have been rectified.

At a national level Ireland has consistently supported the International Labour Organisation in its efforts to promote decent global labour standards for seafarers. A new consolidated Maritime Labour Convention was adopted in February 2006 at the 94th International Labour Conference in Geneva. Ireland was represented at the 94th Conference by a tripartite delegation consisting of government officials, nominees of the employers (IBEC) and of the workers (ICTU). The new Convention sets out clear principles and rights for seafarers. Ireland fully supports the new Convention and voted in favour of the proposal.