Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 537: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on marine safety (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33209/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The safety of passenger ships and boats is a key objective for my Department. As we saw earlier this year with the capsizing of the "M/V Costa Concordia" with the tragic loss of thirty lives this is a critical area in ensuring safety. In Ireland we have a number of categories of passenger tour boats.

Passenger tour boats carrying more than 12 passengers are referred to as passenger ships and they can operate on the inland waterways and at sea. Passenger tour boats carrying not more than twelve passengers are referred to as passenger boats and there are several hundred such boats operating around our coastline and on our lakes and rivers. Each passenger boat and ship is surveyed by Surveyors from by my Department.

Passenger ships are subject to annual surveys and passenger boats are surveyed every two years. These surveys cover all aspects of the vessel including hull structure, watertight integrity, machinery and electrical arrangements, crew qualification and operational matters such as musters and drills. The Merchant Shipping Acts require any Irish ship greater than 80 gross tonnage to enter into an agreement with the crew and complete an official logbook. In addition, in accordance with EU Regulation 336/2006 on the implementation of the International Safety Management Code and its application to passenger ships which operate to sea, the vessels must have a certified safety management system in place called Domestic Safety Management (DSM) and the vessels must hold a DSM logbook as well.