The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources has questioned the European Commission's decision to take Ireland to court for alleged breach of maritime safety rules.
The Commission has said that both Ireland and France have not complied with a law requiring member-states to inspect at least 25 per cent of ships using their ports each year.
The ruling on safety and anti-pollution inspections of ships was passed in 1995 and was reinforced in 1999 after the French oil tanker Erika sank off France and caused major environmental damage on the Brittany coastline.
It is understood that the Department is unhappy with the statistic quoted in Ireland's case - that it inspected 21 per cent of ships last year. France is said to have inspected only 9.6 per cent of relevant ship traffic in 2001.
Port state control regulations preclude inspection of a vessel if it has already been examined within a specific time frame in a previous member-state, and and Ireland is often the final stage of a ship's passage through EU waters, a Department spokesman said yesterday.
A new maritime safety directorate, which was approved by the former marine minister, Mr Frank Fahey, has taken over the marine survey office and 10 new surveyors are being recruited to deal with staffing shortages.
The Commission's action was only transmitted formally this week, although the issue was publicised in Brussels a week ago.
The Green MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, has called on the Irish authorities to ensure that the minimum threshold of ship inspections is met without delay, while the Fine Gael spokesman on communications, marine and natural resources, Mr Simon Coveney, has described the EU's action as an "international embarrassment" and a "damning indictment of the priority the Government has given to the marine industry".
Mr Proinsias De Rossa, Labour MEP for Dublin, said that the Commission's action reflected the Government's "shambolic approach" to maritime issues.
The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Ahern, is due to open the national fishing industry exhibition, "Fish Ireland", in Killybegs, Co Donegal, today.