Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

99. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views regarding safety procedures for maritime operations within the jurisdiction of the State; his plans to review same; and if it is planned to ratify the Torremolinos Convention. [5616/19]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Maritime safety is the key concern of the Irish Maritime Administration which is a part of my Department.

The breadth of maritime operations in Irish waters is vast. It ranges from recreational craft users through to the smaller passenger boat and fishing vessel operators, on up to larger passenger and cargo ships and fishing vessels and internationally trading ships, both passenger and cargo.

The Administration performs many roles in relation to maritime safety in the State, both of a preventative and a reactive nature.

For example, the Marine Survey Office carries out a wide variety of regulatory and enforcement functions concerning vessels, seafarers, ports and cargos in the areas of safety, security, pollution prevention, accessibility and living and working conditions (for Irish ships in Irish waters and worldwide; and for foreign ships while in Irish ports).

The Irish Coast Guard is responsible for the response to, and coordination of, maritime accidents which require Search & Rescue and Counter Pollution & Ship Casualty operations. It also has a role in marine communication, surveillance and emergency management in Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Ensuring safe maritime operations and, in the unfortunate instances where things go wrong, an efficient and effective emergency response, is the top priority for the Administration. While these activities are constantly under review as part of its day to day work it is useful to take a step back and conduct a separate review from time to time or as the circumstances require.

For instance, following the tragic incidents involving the Coast Guard RIB, or Rigid Inflatable Boat, off Kilkee in 2016 and, separately, the Coast Guard Rescue 116 helicopter off the coast of Mayo in 2017, I have instigated a review into the national Search & Rescue Framework and the important work of the Review Group is on-going.

Furthermore, in 2017, the Maritime Safety Policy Division of my Department also issued a revised edition of the Code of Practice for the Safe Operation of Recreational Craft, which provides users of recreational craft with important, practical safety advice and recommendations.

Prior to this, in April 2015 my Department, following a wide consultation, published its Maritime Safety Strategy 2015-2019, and this document contains a list of actions that the Irish Maritime Administration is currently working on implementing.

In relation to your specific enquiry regarding the Torremolinos Convention, that convention, which was agreed at the International Maritime Organization in 1977, never entered into force and is no longer open for accession. The Convention represented the first attempt internationally to regulate the larger fishing vessel sector – this is fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over. It was replaced in 1993 by the Torremolinos Protocol, which updated and amended the provisions of the prior Convention to try and encourage a greater number of ratifications from states. Ireland acceded to the Protocol in 2001 and has domestic legislation for such fishing vessels. However, similar to the prior Convention, the Torremolinos Protocol has also failed to reach the required number of ratifications to enter into force internationally.

Further amendments to the Protocol were adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 2012, namely the Cape Town Agreement or, to give it its full title, the ‘Cape Town Agreement of 2012 on the Implementation of the Provisions of the 1993 Protocol relating to the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels, 1977’. That Agreement has not yet entered into force. My Department is currently preparing proposals for Irish legislation on the matter which, if passed, will facilitate Ireland ratifying the Agreement in due course.