asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state the names of the vessels at present owned by Irish Shipping, Limited; the age of each vessel; whether any of these vessels have been withdrawn from service, and whether Irish Shipping, Limited, hold any vessels under charter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish Shipping.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state whether a decision has yet been reached on the building of additional new tonnage by Irish Shipping, Limited.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 34 and 35 together.
The names of the vessels at present owned by Irish Shipping, Limited, are the Irish Ash, Irish Cedar, Irish Oak, Irish Pine, Irish Willow and Irish Rose.
The Irish Ash is 28 years old and has been withdrawn from service since August. I am informed that it is not considered suitable for the company's present services, and that negotiations for its sale are in progress.
The other ships are all about one year old and are in service, except for the Irish Oak, which has been withdrawn for repairs to engines and examination of the hull consequent on the recent stranding off Cobh.
I am informed by the company that they have no vessels on charter at present except a small Dutch ship which has been chartered for a single voyage from Copenhagen.
The company expect to take delivery of two further new ships—the Irish Plane and the Irish Hazel—in the next couple of months.
When these two ships have been delivered the company's fleet of new ships will have an aggregate carrying capacity of 45,970 tons dead weight. This is considerably more than the company have had at their disposal for some years past. The question whether further tonnage should be acquired is under examination.
Would the Minister state whether consideration has been given to having the names of these ships in the Irish language?
That is a separate question.
I dare say it has been considered, but I cannot definitely state that it has been offhand.
The Minister is not able to say why that has not been done.
This question should have been directed to my predecessor.
It is a separate question.