A radio operator of any marine radiocommunications transmitter is required to hold a certificate of competency. The certficiates are issued by the Director of Telecommunications Regulation and the examinations are conducted by the marine radio survey office of my Department. A radio operator of a marine radiocommunications transmitter, which includes digital selective calling, or DSC, must hold one of the following certificates: a global maritime distress and safety system, GMDSS general operator's certificate, or GOL; a GMDSS restricted operator's certificate, or ROC; a radio operator's long range certificate, or LRC; or a radio operator's short range certificate, or SRC. The first two certificates mentioned are required under the Merchant Shipping (Radio) Rules, 1992, and the EU Council Directive 97/70/EC on fishing vessel safety for radio operators on vessels which are required, by international convention, to install GMDSS equipment. The third and fourth certificates mentioned are required for radio operators on vessels which install GMDSS on a voluntary basis.
At present, training is provided and the examinations are carried out for the GOL and the ROC at Cork and Limerick Institutes of Technology, Commencing in 1999, similar training and examinations will be carried out at the BIM national fisheries training centre, Greencastle, County Donegal, and at the new BIM training Centre in Castletownbere. Training is provided and examinations are held for the radio operator's LRC at Greencastle, and will be available in 1999 in Castletownbere. Training will also be provided and examinations will be held, commencing in 1999, for the radio operator's SRC, at both Greencastle and Castletownbere. I understand there may also be opportunities for people to be trained and examined in both the LRC and SRC at the institutes of technology at Cork and Limerick. There will also be an opportunity for suitably qualified training instructors who provide the necessary radio equipment and examination facilities to train people for the SRC.