Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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602. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has examined the current qualification system for Irish skippers and former fishermen hoping to work in the offshore wind industry; if his attention has been drawn to the restriction of Irish Masters ticket holders to Irish waters only and the adverse impact this restriction could pose to the continued employment of some Irish skippers and former fishermen in the offshore wind industry; if he intends to address the lack of certification for former fishermen to reflect their years of service in the Irish marine industry; and if he has examined the possibilities open to former skippers and fishermen to seek alternative employment in offshore wind installation and maintenance programmes. [41883/13]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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603. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he intends to liaise with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to examine certification and retraining proposals to redeploy unemployed Irish fishermen and skippers into the offshore energy industry, such as in offshore wind installation and maintenance programmes. [41911/13]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 602 and 603 together.

The certification of seafarers, including fishermen, is governed strictly by the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW). The STCW convention allows for maritime administrations to issue national certification for domestic waters, but any certification for vessels on international voyages must comply in full with the STCW provisions.

My Department has published two Marine Notices to facilitate skippers and fishermen to attain an STCW qualification that would enable them to work in the wider marine sector. The first, Marine Notice 2 of 2009, sets out the process whereby certain fishermen can convert their existing qualifications to obtain the necessary Certificates of Competency to allow them to take up employment on stand-by, seismic survey or oceanographic research vessels. The second, Marine Notice 3 of 2009, gives details of how skippers holding particular Irish qualifications for fishing vessels can convert these to Certificates of Competency for certain merchant shipping qualifications. A skipper’s relevant experience will also be taken into account in this process. In addition, my Department is also considering at this time the possibility of introducing new provisions to enable the employment of persons with particular fishing vessel qualifications to work on certain domestic cargo vessels operating exclusively within the State.