Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

While the previous debate rightly took up so much of the House's time, these and similar motions, which we probably will not have time to reach, are at the kernel of what we need to concentrate on from this point onwards. It was clear to all members of the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, when the Naval Service representatives appeared before it, that while they do an efficient and admirable task their hands are effectively tied behind their backs. When they are boarding a vessel from another country in the European Union they do not have the faintest idea as regards what quota it should have. This is why I return to the argument that this whole system is corrupt. A vessel's quota under the central system is at the very centre of the whole system, and if one cannot tell what that is, it leads to open fishing. This must be changed as a matter of the utmost urgency.

The Minister can come back to me at any time in the future with a reply to my earlier question regarding the 2002 review of the European Common Fisheries Policy. At that time, the Commission proposed and supported the notion that we would have an electronic logging system for quotas, which would provide exactly the kind of information we are talking about here, but this proposal was turned down by the Council of Ministers. The decision was due to connivance in terms of a political weakness that sought to favour individual national fleets. It led to a weakening of the provisions that should have been introduced which makes the entire system corrupt and inoperable.

I would support the Minister in going down the route of enforcement. The information that has come out in this process in terms of over-fishing by our own fleet — we can only assume foreign fleets are doing the exact same — is astounding. The information elicited from the Marine Institute shows a divergence between quota stocks that were landed and what was recorded, as a multiple of six or eight times the amount. That is staggering. We are not talking about a small number or isolated cases, we are talking about systemic practices that do not work.

This information emerged from a survey that was conducted when no one considered that we would be discussing the Bill before the House. It is as accurate a survey as any politician would get of a constituency before a forthcoming election. We know the value of surveys. That survey is a remarkable picture of what is going on with our fleet and with others. If we are to have a proper system we need to get information on a daily basis. There is no reason a skipper on a vessel cannot send a text message on a mobile phone — just as would my seven year old — giving the quota and catch information of the day. Such a system could be introduced tomorrow.

I applaud Deputy Broughan who appears to be thinking in the same vein in this regard. In addition to amendments Nos. 11 and 12 there are other similar amendments further down the list. I have consistently tried to raise this issue. Will the Minister outline where we go from here. In response to a parliamentary question from me yesterday the Minister reiterated the current position which simply does not work, that every nation follows its own course and no one really knows what anybody else is doing.

We need to follow the approach set out in the amendments before the House. If the section is not appropriate, the Minister should put them in a different section as he has the ability to do this. He has been flexible with Deputy O'Donovan at the last minute. The Minister said he is willing to examine amendments to section 28. The point I make, with Deputy Broughan and others, is absolutely valid, that we should lay down requirements in the legislation for the provision of real time information from other fleets as to what they are doing in Irish waters and what they are entitled to do. That is the intent of these amendments.

See this speech in context