Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

The primary purpose of this Bill is to modernise the legislative framework for sea-fisheries. The principal Act currently in place was adopted in the mid 20th century and was subject to a number of amendments. It was designed for a sea fishing industry which primarily involved short trips by small Irish boats. The sea fishing industry has changed almost beyond recognition since then in terms of the size of the fleet. It now includes many multi-million euro businesses with large Irish boats operating in far away regions and large non-Irish boats fishing in Irish waters — I should say in the waters around Ireland because they are European waters now whether one likes it or not. These boats often land their catches in Ireland. Many Members will be familiar with the number of French vessels which land into Killybegs and Castletownbere. The industry is now substantially regulated at EU level through the Common Fisheries Policy. In addition, the Bill is designed to fill a major gap in the Fisheries Acts regarding the implementation of the EU Common Fisheries Policy following litigation which resulted in the impugning by the Supreme Court of certain secondary legislation for lack of cover in the current Acts. It is necessary to amend the legal framework to have regard to these realities and to modernise our systems and structures so that best practice in fisheries management and control is implemented.

Section 14 fills the gap identified in section 224B of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959 by enabling detailed ministerial regulations to be made to apply the full range of EU requirements throughout the whole area to which the EU Common Fisheries Policy applies. As section 224B currently stands, it only applies within the 200 nautical miles exclusive fishery limits of the State and only specifically prohibits illegal fishing or attempts to fish illegally.

Section 15 of the Bill fills the gaps identified in section 223A of the 1959 Act by specifically enabling detailed ministerial regulations to be made to supplement the EU Common Fisheries Policy where the State has discretion as to the particular measures to be adopted.

For the convenience of the House, the current text of sections 223A and 224B of the 1959 Act is set out in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 to the detailed explanatory and financial memorandum which was published with the Bill.

In addressing the issues arising from the Supreme Court judgments referred to, it was necessary to comprehensively review the whole of Part XIII of the 1959 Act and all subsequent Acts dealing with sea fisheries. The Government decided, in the interests of proper regulation, to replace Part XIII of the 1959 Act, as amended, by the up-to-date provisions which are now in Part 2 and sections 64 to 66, inclusive, of the Bill. Thus, on enactment of the Bill, there will only be two Acts instead of seven dealing with sea fisheries, that is, this Bill and the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003 reforming sea fishing boat licensing arrangements with provision for appeal. This is a major achievement by the Government since it came into Office.

I draw attention to Appendix 4 to the detailed explanatory and financial memorandum published with the Bill which shows the link between the sections of Part XIII of the 1959 Act, as amended, and the relevant sections of Part 2 of the Bill which replace them.

On section 18 of the Bill, the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources at its meeting in which I participated on 12 October raised the matter of the powers of protection officers to fire guns which have been on the Statute Books since 1959. We are consulting with the Department of Defence on the provision that allows a sea fishery officer, in certain circumstances, to carry firearms and to fire a gun at or into the boat. I want to make it abundantly clear that I intend to introduce a suitable amendment on Committee Stage to deal with this issue which is understandably of concern to many, including myself. I have had a discussion with the Minister for Defence this morning.

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