Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that all those involved in the operation of commercial ferries crossing the Irish Sea have the neccesary qualifications.

Ensuring that seafarers operating all ships have the necessary international recognised qualifications, showing that they are properly trained and have the required level of proficiency for their roles, is the responsibility of the maritime administration of the country that the ship is registered with, the flag State.

In addition, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency will inspect all non-UK registered ferries that operate out of the United Kingdom on an annual basis, as the port State, under the Port State Control inspection regime. In relation to ferries, other EU member states, including Ireland, will also inspect them annually as required by the European Ro-Ro Passenger Ship Directive. These are additional checks that only applies to ferries.