Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 119: To ask the Minister for Transport the number of inspectors monitoring the wages and conditions of maritime workers on vessels in Irish ports; the number of random inspections carried out each year from 2005 to 2008; if he will strengthen the monitoring of wages and conditions of mariners in Irish ports and water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46371/08]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The terms and conditions of employment on board vessels are a matter primarily for the State in which the ship is registered.

A comprehensive body of Irish employment rights legislation governs the conditions of employment of workers on board vessels under the Irish flag. This includes legislation dealing with minimum wages.

If the vessel is not registered in Ireland, then the port state control inspections cover the International Maritime Organisation's various Safety and Environment Protection Conventions as well as the International Labour Organisation Conventions. The inspection of the latter includes the welfare of the crew (food, accommodation, hours of work etc) but would exclude rates of pay.

The number of marine surveyors, who carry out a range of duties, employed by my Department currently stands at 22.

The figures for port state control inspections under the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on foreign flag merchant ships visiting Irish ports in 2005 to 2007 were 422, 440, and 410 respectively. Inspections to date in 2008 are just over 400.

In addition to the Port State Control Inspections, safety inspections on ro-ro passenger ferries and high-speed passenger craft operating on scheduled international routes to/from Ireland are conducted. The figures for these inspections are 24 each year for 2005 and 2006 with 31 last year and 28 to date in 2008.

Ireland has consistently supported the International Labour Organisation in its efforts to promote 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 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. EU member states are committed to ratifying the new Convention by 31 December 2010 and it is expected to come into force internationally in 2011.