The purpose of Directive 95/21/EC on port State control is to reduce drastically and ultimately eliminate the number of substandard ships in Union waters. To this end, the directive agrees common criteria for inspecting ships which use a port of the Union. One of its key provisions lays down that each member state is to carry out an annual total number of inspections corresponding to at least 25% of the number of foreign ships entering its ports.
On 26 June 2002 the Commission decided to bring an action in the European Court of Justice against France and Ireland for their failure to comply with its directive.
Ireland's inspection rate has increased greatly over the past few years. Some 7.5% of foreign ships entering our ports were inspected in 1999, 14.6% in 2000 and a total of 21% of ships were inspected in 2001.
A number of steps are being taken to ensure that the recently established Maritime Safety Directorate within my Department has the resources to carry out the number of inspections required under Ireland's port state control obligations. In particular, an additional ten vessel surveyors have recently been appointed to the Directorate and are currently undergoing training. The Directorate is also developing a management information system to enhance the collection of data required for improved management of our port State control operations.
Port state control is a very effective measure in encouraging full compliance with international safety standards and I have asked the Maritime Safety Directorate to give this work a priority. I am hopeful that we will meet the target of 25% in 2002.