Louise O'Reilly
Question:235. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Transport when boats (details supplied) will be inspected by the Port State Control under the Paris Memorandum of Understanding. [22794/23]
View answerTuesday, 16 May 2023
Questions (235, 236)
Louise O'Reilly
Question:236. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Transport the reason a harbour master (details supplied) has not received a response to a communication from November 2022 seeking an update as to when boats would be inspected by the Port State Control under the Paris Memorandum of Understanding. [22796/23]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 235 and 236 together.
The Marine Survey office of my Department has now contacted the Harbour Master in Fingal County Council in relation to the communication from November 2022.
Ireland is a member of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, Paris MoU. The requirements of the Paris MoU are set out in European Union Directive 2009/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on port State control, as amended. This is transposed into Irish law by means of the Statutory Instrument No. 656/2010 - European Communities (Port State Control) Regulations 2010, as amended.
Port State Control under the auspices of the Paris MoU applies to the inspection of foreign flagged vessels within the port of a state other than that of the flag state. The Paris MoU carries out inspections on merchant ships falling within the scope of the relevant instruments which include the main international shipping conventions. Fishing vessels are not currently within the scope of the Paris MoU.
In relation to the harbours of Balbriggan, Skerries, Loughshinny and Rush, these are mainly used by small Irish flagged vessels and such vessels do not come within the remit of the Paris MoU.
The MSO is the Competent Authority for port state control in Ireland. Under the Paris MoU all ships are assigned an inspection priority of P0, PII or PI depending on their risk profile. Should a ship falling within the scope of these requirement use any Irish port then they are included within the overall port state control selection mechanism and are inspected by the MSO in accordance with their profile. It is understood that the harbours under the jurisdiction of Fingal County Council are unlikely to receive such vessels. However, if they did then they would come within the remit of Paris MoU inspections.
Question No. 236 answered with Question No. 235.