Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. What work, if any, has been done on Brexit and how will it affect the patrol of our waters? What extra equipment, such as ships, will be required? What preparation work is being carried out? While I welcome the very valuable work that has been done in the Mediterranean, it obviously puts a strain on minding our waters in respect of illegal fishing. What discussions, if any, have taken place with those in the marine sector? These problems will not go away. In fact, they will get bigger. What preparatory work, if any, has been done to deal with Brexit and what additional work will be put on us? What arrangements or discussions have taken place? Does the Minister of State intend to have discussions with our neighbours as to how we deal with it?

As he is probably aware, the fishing rights along various parts of our coastline are very complex, with quotas built up by other European countries and Britain. To add to the complication, British individuals have had the habit of selling off some of their quotas to others because as a country Britain did not protect the quotas. We will have a serious problem as the European quotas will impose in our waters, which will add to our difficulties in policing these waters. Therefore, we need to do preparatory work well in advance to see what extra resources we will require and what negotiations we need to carry out with our partners in Europe. It is one of the biggest difficulties we will face with regard to Brexit.

It is highly complicated and I am aware from my days as Minister with responsibility for the marine that all sorts of agreements exist with regard to quotas in Irish water. I want to bring this to the attention of the Minister of State. It will put more pressure on the Naval Service. While I fully support the efforts made by the Minister of State and the Department in participating in the rescue of people off various shores, it has put a great strain on the resources available for protecting our fishing waters. Some countries do not pay a great deal of attention to quotas or territory. There is a need to make certain we do not lose out by not having resources available to protect our waters. This is my concern.