Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

I compliment my colleagues, Deputies Creed and Sheahan, on their presentations on this important motion.

I intend to focus on the issue of administrative sanctions. There is a burning resentment in fishing communities and all along the seaboard because of the attitude of the Government to this issue, particularly in recent years. I feel this resentment is justified. The last report of the EU Commission on behaviours that seriously infringe the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy shows that it is objectively justified. The report records the changes that took place and new legal instruments in fisheries enforcement in member states. It records the 2006 Act that brought changes in Ireland and refers to the increased penalties for fisheries offences.

The report refers to the fact that France introduced a number of administrative measures. It also refers to changes in the United Kingdom, which are the basis for administrative sanctions, and the new scheme produced by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency on administrative procedures. The report refers to Spain, which in 2005 adopted an administrative Act establishing criteria for administrative sanctions, and to the position in Sweden along the same lines. However, the then Minister here rejected all approaches on administrative sanctions.

This was all done with the clear message that the European Union wants harmonisation. The last report from the EU Commission lists the most recent changes introduced in this regard in Europe yet the Government has dug in on the issue. I appreciate that much of this has to do with the character of the then Minister, Deputy Dempsey, as the Bill was going through. He thought he was high sheriff of the seas and was not for turning, egged on to a degree by ill-informed plaudits from the Dublin media. There was no appreciation of what the goal was. There was scope for administrative sanctions here, as in other countries, as mentioned by my colleagues, with a view to creating a level playing field.

The constitutional issue was raised at the time and was raised again in reply to a recent Dáil question. I will be absolutely blunt in stating my convinction that there is no constitutional inhibition to the introduction of administrative sanctions in this country. I believe the approach of the Minister was wrong on this point and I challenged the advice he received suggesting there was a constitutional inhibition. There is no distinction between the enforcement of fisheries law and the enforcement of road traffic law. I am not referring to minor parking offences but under road traffic law there are administrative sanctions, including fixed penalties and penalty points, and one can lose one's licence without going to court if one gets enough penalty points. If a person loses his or her licence he may lose his or her livelihood. There are countless precedents suggesting the administrative approach is possible. The constitutional get-out is that offenders can refuse to accept a constitutional penalty and go to court instead and this allows the provisions of the Constitution to be upheld. A person is entitled, under Articles 34 and 37, to have a charge tried before a court if he or she insists. The message we are getting from the fishermen and the European Union is that they want a system through which low-level offences can be dealt with on an administrative basis. I want to make the point that this can be done. I accept that there are parameters that must be included in a new provision.

I am working, on behalf of Fine Gael, on a framework document that will outline how this can be achieved. It will cover technical offences that were dealt with heretofore by warnings and it will accept that serious offences must go to court, also as heretofore. It will not be a charter for cowboys. The document will point out that offences that are not serious can be dealt with through administrative sanctions. I am asking the Government and the fishing organisations to give serious consideration to Fine Gael's framework document on how this can be achieved. If the points raised in it are correct, as I believe they are, the necessary legislation should be introduced to underpin the new system that should be put in place as soon as possible. The solution is in our hands.

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