Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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200. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of Workplace Relations Commission fishing boat inspections that took place from 1 September to 31 December 2017. [18648/18]

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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201. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of Workplace Relations Commission fishing boat inspections that took place from 1 January to 31 March 2018. [18649/18]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 201 together.

I would draw the deputy’s attention to the fact that lead policy responsibility for the fishing sector resides with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. However, as part of the multi-agency approach to dealing with issues in the fishing sector, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) undertakes workplace inspections in that sector for compliance with employment law.

Since the introduction in February 2016 of an Atypical Worker Permission Scheme for Non-EEA fishers engaged on whitefish vessels over 15 metres in length, 281 inspections have been undertaken by the WRC.

In the specific periods that the deputy is enquiring about, from 1 September 2017 to 31December 2017, 15 inspections were conducted and from 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2018, 37 inspections were carried out by the WRC.

Details of inspections by month in the period from June 2016 to date in April 2018 are set out in the following table:

* To 23 April 2018