Denis O'Donovan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)

Regrettably, the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Bill 2005 poses many problems for me. I do not have difficulty with the thrust of the Bill but there are five areas where change must be made for it to be acceptable.

First, the Bill must provide for administrative and graded sanctions and decriminalise fisheries offences. According to EU records and standards 86% of all EU fisheries offences are now dealt with by way of administrative sanctions. As the chairman of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution I do not see any constitutional impediment to such a change in our laws.

Second, the reference to seafood manager should be deleted in its entirety as it only creates a mechanism for resolving internal management accountability issues and undermines and sidelines the role of the Minister. It also states that a control regulator should be established with an appropriate appeals mechanism but this involves another roll of unnecessary and inappropriate red tape for the fishing industry. I represent Cork South-West, which is on a par with Donegal north west and is the capital of fishing in the south.

Third, the automatic confiscation of catching gear, which only applies to Irish vessels, must be changed to allow it to be decided at the discretion of courts. I will read a letter for the record of the House sent to Deputy O'Flynn, chairman of the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. It is from a solicitor and concerns a recent court case he encountered which emphasises the plight of fishermen. The letter reads:

Dear Deputy,

I heard you on the radio last week, in connection with the proposed changes in Fishery legislation, and in particular the suggestion that the penalties would be increased.

I do a lot of work for people in the Marine business around the coast, and I have had a couple of recent cases of representing individuals under the fisheries Acts. In fact this morning, I was in the Circuit Criminal Court [where serious crimes relating to drugs, rape and violent crime against the person are dealt with, and fishermen are brought in there] representing a young fisherman whose offence was that he had not filled in the Log Book [a technical offence]. At the trial, evidence was given of extenuating circumstances — bad weather, mechanical breakdown, and there was no suggestion that he was to profit in any way for his administrative lapse.

Notwithstanding all of that, penalties in the amount of €40,000 were imposed, comprising of a fine of €10,000, forfeiture of the catch and the gear, and in addition the client was at the loss of fishing when his boat was tied up, and also the cost of legal fees...

Legal fees for the defence amounted to €40,000 for a technical offence. If that happened in Europe there would be an administrative fine which would be dealt with at little cost to the State. On top of that €40,000, it does not indicate what it cost taxpayers through State expenditure to bring the man to court, the arresting of the boat, the gardaí involved and the time in the Circuit Court. This would probably double the cost, which indicates the severe problems that exist. I will continue to read into the record the letter, which is interesting. It represents a typical case which could take place in Castletownbere, Killybegs, the west or Dunmore East:

It is interesting that in the course of the case, the Judge said he was mindful that the Oireachtas took these matters very seriously, because of severity of the proposed penalties. [In other words, the judge was saying he must impose the large fines because the Oireachtas takes the matter seriously, yet the Bill is proposing in some instances to increase by 800% the penalties that already exist, which are draconian and unfair.] If these penalties are increased further, it will mean that Judges will think that the imposition of a fine of even €50,000 would be light...

That is what the Oireachtas wants, and it is the message we will send out if we adopt the Bill in its entirety. The letter goes on:

Furthermore, the Fisheries Acts do not differentiate in terms of penalties between a vessel such as my client had this morning, with a crew of four, and a very large vessel which could be at sea for weeks on end. [In other words, we are dealing here with a relatively small trawler.]

I hope my letter to you is not regarded as being impertinent, but I think that the Oireachtas should be made aware that ordinary fishermen doing the best they can under very difficult circumstances, would be faced with absolutely draconian fines and penalties, for what would be regarded in other areas of activity, as only minor transgressions.

This is the content of this important letter. Deputy O'Keeffe referred to a case yesterday in Galway involving a fishermen I know well. He was dragged into a similar case. It was his first offence in approximately 50 years.

I have already indicated three areas with which I have serious concerns. The fines and penalties detailed in the Bill lack proportionality and must be reduced and changed. The underlining principle must be that just serious fisheries transgressions attract serious penalties.

In this regard, I do not advocate that we should go out there and deplete our stocks and rape our waters. I am aware that a small minority of fishermen transgress the law and should be brought to heel. I have no problem with the conservation of stocks. However, while we represent 1.86% of the EU fishing fleet, we appear to be saying that we are the best boys in Europe, we will put our fishermen below the waterline and sink them by way of these impossible fines with which the industry will find it difficult to cope.

Finally, the provision to use firearms against fishing vessels must be deleted from the Bill. I was pleased the Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, recently indicated his desire to amend this provision. The above points require to be changed if we are to have a fisheries amendment Bill which is progressive and which will be acceptable to the stakeholders involved. There are other smaller amendments which I do not wish to discuss at this stage.

We must examine the whole concept of the Irish fishing industry. Regrettably, when we joined the EEC in 1973, to use a west Cork term, the Irish fishing industry was "left sucking the hind tit" for which there were a number of reasons. We got a very bad deal at the time. Up to the enlargement of Europe a couple of years ago, as an island nation, Ireland had almost 25% of the entire EU waters, yet it had approximately 4% of the fishing quota. When one realises that we have less than 2% of the EU fishing fleet, we are already at a severe disadvantage as regards the Spanish, French and the other bigger nations in Europe. We got figures in Brussels the week before last when some of us met the Chef de Cabinet to the Commissioner and many MEPs. The most up-to-date penalty records indicate that of the 14 nations surveyed, Ireland came ninth while its transgression record was quite small compared to some of the major players in the industry.

It puzzles me that the average fine in Spain for fishing without a licence — the Spanish are the masters of fishing in Europe and were treated very well in the 1970s when Ireland got a raw deal — is €1,463, which is documented and accepted in Europe, while in Ireland it is €21,400, and increasing. This is obvious from the letter to me from the solicitor on behalf of a fisherman who had to go before the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, which was a disgrace. The message being sent out from the Dáil and Seanad is that not only do we want the penalties to be enforced but we want them to be increased. In some instances it will put fishermen out of business.

The average penalty for logbook offences in Denmark is €393, while in Ireland it is €8,500. The instance I quoted earlier was a logbook offence. The unfortunate fisherman whose boat had broken down and who got caught in adverse weather conditions was penalised to the tune of €40,000 the week before last in an Irish court. The average fine for fishing for species subject to prohibition in the UK is €2,328 while it is €23,125 in Ireland.

I have had many dealings with Irish fishermen over the years. People may say I am wrong, but if the Irish south and west fishing organisations and the other Irish fish producing organisations were up and running and had the same capacity, ability and expertise they now have — a number of these organisations are doing a wonderful job throughout Ireland for the fishing industry — we would have got a much better deal in 1973. At the time our negotiators were unaware of the potential of our waters. Having said that, as a member of the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, I have met these organisations. In the past two or three years, representatives of the fishing industry have been travelling to Europe and batting as hard as they can, together with the Irish Ministers, to obtain a fair deal for Ireland on quotas and so on. Very often they work hand-in-hand with the Minister and his officials and, by and large, they come back with a fair result, albeit with some trepidation. Over the years, including when I was in the Seanad, these people have been asking me to do something to try to bring them into line with Europe. There is an idea that we are not in line with Europe but, in fact, we are streets ahead. They talk about endangered species but, as things stand, the most endangered species is fishermen, who are becoming scarce. Recently, when the Minister announced a substantial package for decommissioning, two trawler men who had boats of less than the required 18 metres came to me. They are crying out to get out fishing. They see all sorts of problems ahead, with difficulty getting crews, rising fuel prices and their families not wanting to get involved in the industry.

We must be fair to the fishermen and the industry. It is a fledgling industry and we should be trying to nurture and protect it, not criminalising it with bureaucracy and red tape. Most of the fishermen I know, be they trawlermen, inshore fishermen or those involved in fish farming are hard working, decent men who face many obstacles. We always hear of at least one tragedy every year.

I commend the Government since 1997. In 1997, a substantial package was put in place for the fishermen, particularly in the south west, to upgrade and provide new boats in the white fish fleet and that was a success. I also commend the fishing industry for waking up to the fact that we must have the highest safety standards at sea and I thank the Minister and his predecessors for putting grants to achieve that in place.

Representing the fishermen of south-west Cork, in Castletownbere, Schull, Baltimore, Union Hall and Kinsale, I would be doing a disservice to them and their families if I was to say I was happy with aspects of this Bill. I am not. If this Bill is to be passed in its current form, I would find it difficult to vote for it. I know there will be a whip but to show the strength of my indignation, I have tabled a motion signed by seven other members for the meeting of the parliamentary party. It could not be taken this week because the Minister was in Brussels. I have never in my 12 years in the Oireachtas filibustered Government legislation but in this instance I have grave concerns.

This is why five members of the Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources travelled to Brussels at short notice. We met 12 MEPs, two of whom were from Scotland and one from Spain, a former fisheries Minister in the last Spanish Government, and they are bemused as to why we are going ahead with this draconian legislation. There was an indication that if we did not introduce this Bill, there would be serious implications for Ireland. We heard, however, that is not the case. The EU Commissioner, who is from an island nation, visited Ireland two weeks ago. I met him in Kenmare along with a group of representatives from the fishing industry. He made it clear that as far as he was concerned Ireland was responsible for its own actions. The fishermen accept that there must be laws and regulations but it is up to us to set the bar at a certain height.

There was an article recently in The Sunday Tribune which criticised those Deputies, including me, who support the fishing industry. It was almost libellous, suggesting that we are on the take from fishermen. The article was scathing and inaccurate in many respects. Whoever wrote the article knows nothing of the fishing industry. If he did, the article would not have been written. There is an obligation on Oireachtas Members and on the media to portray the true problems fishermen face. Fishing is a perilous occupation. We saw very little media coverage of the fact that the increases in oil prices internationally have caused great difficulties for the fishermen. The cost of fuel was rising on a weekly basis.

We must have a fair approach to the fishing industry, there must be rules and regulations, but we must also acknowledge that the fishing industry in Ireland is under threat and we are obliged to represent and support our constituents. That is why I am lending my voice in opposition to aspects of this Bill.

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