Vol. 426 No. 6
16 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for the Marine the reason for the delay in making available the report on the damage by fire to the fishing vessel Stelimar off Howth, County Dublin in August, 1991, resulting in the death of a crew member; and when the report will be made available.
The report of the Department's investigation into the incident on board the fishing vessel Stelimar was completed in 1991. It pre-dated by some time, therefore, the policy decision that reports into marine accidents would be published in future.
When this change in policy was announced in February 1992, it was made clear that the decision could not be applied retrospectively because of legal considerations arising from the circumstances under which earlier investigations would have been conducted.
I regret, therefore, that it is not possible to make available the report into the incident in question.
Safety standards on fishing vessels are reviewed on an ongoing basis by a specialist fishing vessel safety working group which comprises representatives of the fishing industry and administrative and technical staff of the Department. Guidelines relating to the safety of fishing vessels are issued by way of marine notice to the industry.
In addition, the Merchant Shipping Act, 1992, enables the making of regulations governing the safety of fishing vessels and their crews. I recently signed the Merchant Shipping (Musters) (Fishing Vessels) Regulations, 1993, which require the holding of regular musters or drills in preparation for emergencies, the regular inspection and maintenance of live saving and fire fighting equipment and the recording of particulars of such in vessels' logbooks.
