Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 36: To ask the Minister for Transport if any application for a certified passenger boat or ship has been refused by his Department since 2000; the reasons given for such refusal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9709/08]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department receives a large number of applications for certification of passenger boats and ships each year and Surveyors from my Department engage in discussions with the applicants. Apart from being successfully issued with a certificate there are a number of other possible outcomes from such discussions including changing the initial class of passenger ship for which an application was made. In some cases a passenger ship may be issued with a restricted certificate. In others a passenger ship may be changed to a passenger boat and in other cases an applicant may decide not to proceed with the process. The reasons for these changes are related to safety and environmental protection considerations only. However, as the applicant always has the option to re-apply for a certificate following any work carried out on their vessel the concept of out-right refusal, as such, does not exist.

It is not a straightforward matter to provide the answer to this part of the enquiry. However, should he so wish, I will have my officials contact the Deputy directly and they can explain the detail of the certification and enforcement regime and provide clarifications and further detail as required.