Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

We had a long discussion on this matter on Committee Stage. I pointed out then that the introduction of specific requirements, such as those proposed by the Deputy, cannot be done unilaterally. It is not possible to do this. I agree with Deputies Broughan and Eamon Ryan that it would be desirable that these kinds of controls and monitoring would be put in place, but we cannot act unilaterally. Members should be aware that if we move down this route by acting in a unilateral manner the danger is that there may be retaliation in other areas so we just cannot do it.

The provision in section 9(2) is an enabling provision replicated from section 222 of the 1959 Act for the making of ministerial regulations to secure good order among foreign sea fishing boats within the territorial seas of the State. No such regulations have been made to date under the 1959 Act.

Section 9 deals with foreign vessels which enter our territorial seas with lawful excuse but fail to leave when their lawful purpose has been carried out. It is not possible to act unilaterally in the fashion suggested by the Deputies opposite in this regard. That is not to say that I do not think it would be desirable, but it will have to be done in consultation and in concert with our European partners. I accept what the Deputies said, that the system we have — Deputy Eamon Ryan went so far as to say it is corrupt and he gave his definition of what he means by that — is not working as efficiently and effectively as it should. It is not meeting the requirements for conservation and this makes matters difficult for our fishermen. I will not defend this point of view but Members on all sides of the House have listened to fishermen saying that everyone else is doing it and that other vessels are not controlled or monitored. That is not an excuse for people breaking the law, however frustrating that might be.

I accept that it is a reason for the Minister of State and me to work with the Commission through the Council of Ministers to change the system so as to introduce the measures referred to by Deputy Eamon Ryan, such as that information would be readily available and shared and that everybody would know exactly what is going on in European waters. The fisheries control centre in Vigo will be of enormous benefit to us, provided that member states accept that we need to tackle people who are acting illegally. The only way we can do that is by having proper monitoring. It would not be sufficient just to have the Irish authorities monitoring what is landed at Irish ports and chasing this through processing, sales and so on. The Irish authorities must know exactly what Spanish vessels are doing and Spanish authorities must know what Irish vessels are doing, and so on for each of the states of Europe.

While I accept the principle of the amendments and the bona fides of the Deputies in putting them forward, the best I can do at this time is to indicate that I will pursue this at European level. I hope the time will come when we will be able to change this section of the Bill when a proper monitoring system is introduced across Europe.

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