Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 October 2022
189. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Transport if his Department will transfer the powers of the marine survey office to the Workplace Relations Commission recognising the powers of investigation held by the Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48119/22]
View answerThe Marine Survey Office (MSO) is the maritime transport regulator for the safety, security, environmental protection and living and working conditions for vessels in Ireland and Irish ships abroad. This includes survey and inspections of vessels by qualified marine surveyors to determine their seaworthiness. The MSO determines and prescribes the required manning levels and crew qualifications required to safely navigate and operate vessels. This requires that the MSO has responsibility for the regulation of hours of work and rest on-board all Irish flagged vessels in Ireland and abroad and for foreign flagged vessels in Ireland. This is necessary because the working arrangements on-board, including working hours, is intimately connected to the safe operation and navigation of vessel. This enables the MSO to adopt a comprehensive, integrated, and holistic approach to the totality of vessel safety including the human-vessel interface and human factors on-board.
In 2018, the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) took a case against the Department of Justice and Equality and others seeking changes to or suspension of the Atypical Workers Scheme for non-EEA fishers on board certain Irish flagged fishing vessels. A mediation agreement was reached on this matter in early 2019 which included a recommendation that the WRC would have jurisdiction over violations of regulation 6 of SI 709/2003 (which has since been revoked and replaced) relating to hours of work and rest for fishers. That recommendation was to be implemented by appropriate legislative measures to be determined by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment. It is understood that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment intend to implement this recommendation through primary legislation.
