Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

The Naval Service, supported by the Air Corps maritime patrol aircraft, provides Ireland with a very effective fisheries protection service in accordance with our EU obligations and the requirements of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, which has primary policy responsibility in this area.

EU Regulation No. 1489/1997 introduced satellite-based vessel monitoring systems, VMSs, for fishing vessels in the European Union from 1 January 2000. Another European Union regulation, No. 2244/2003, effective from 1 January 2005, further increased the range of fishing vessels that must comply with VMS regulations to all vessels over 15 m. Each member state has been tasked with operating a national fisheries monitoring centre, FMC, to carry out the monitoring of activity by such vessels.

In Ireland, the Naval Service was tasked with this function and the Irish FMC is operated from the naval base at Haulbowline. This centre is manned on a 24-hour basis, 365 days per annum, and is provided with the necessary equipment to monitor the activities of all EU fishing vessels in the Irish 200 nautical mile fishery zone and also Irish vessels operating on a worldwide basis.

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