Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)

-----I saw three Spanish boats, which looked like double-decker buses, in the harbour. Given that I had time on my side, I waited to see whether those three boats would be inspected, but they were not. Meanwhile, it was brought to my attention that a file had been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions about an Irish boat in Killybegs that was found to be 4 kg over its quota. That is why we are here. Something needs to be done.

As outlined by Deputy O'Keeffe, and from the evidence given to us by the SFPA, we are hammering our own fishermen. In 2008 the SFPA carried out 2,232 inspections of Irish vessels and only 746 of foreign vessels. Up to June 2009 there were 832 inspections of Irish vessels and 311 of foreign vessels. I put it to the Minister that our fishing industry has been brought to its knees, not only by what has happened over the years regarding quotas and time at sea, but also by the regime of criminal sanctions.

When this Bill was launched in Castletownbere, I commented on the number of boats that were tied up there and the large crowd that attended. It was sad that there was such a crowd of fishermen there; they should have been out fishing, but for various reasons, one of which was the possibility of criminal sanctions, they could not. The argument has been put forward that the Department is hiding behind the Attorney General. Deputy O'Keeffe has investigated this, with a lot of help, and he has found there is no constitutional problem with the provisions of the Bill.

While I was in Dingle I sought out a member of the SFPA and asked him why those three Spanish boats had not been boarded or checked. He told me there was no need to board or check them because they had everything in order. If this is the kind of regulation going on, when a file on an Irish fisherman with 4 kg over the allowance has been sent to the DPP, the Minister should get involved and sort the issue out.

In the Fishing News International of November 2009, Mr. Harm Koster, the executive director of the European Union's Community Fisheries Control Agency, stated, to my shock, that the EU member states have a budget of approximately €592 million for fisheries inspections and that some EU countries, for example, Ireland, spend almost as much money on fishery controls as their fish landings are worth. Can the Minister of State tell me it is right to be spending as much on our fishery controls as our fish landings are worth? It is wrong to spend so much on inspections of Irish vessels rather than foreign vessels.

Fishermen have a tough life. Fishing is an industry that comes down from generation to generation. Our fishermen have fished all their lives, as did their fathers and grandfathers. They work in dangerous and compromising weather because of the restrictions on them. If the Minister accepted this Bill and allowed the implementation of administrative sanctions, that would do a great service for the fishing community. The boats would not be tied up, gear would not be confiscated, the catch would not be confiscated and we would not be clogging up the court system. It is a win-win situation. We are not setting out a charter for rogues or for people involved in breaking the law, but for dealing with minor indiscretions. We believe these should be dealt with through a penalty point system and fines.

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, has said it is not within its gift to issue administrative sanctions. Why do the Government and Department object to administrative sanctions? We have these sanctions in all other areas. We should be using any chance we have to help our fishermen rather to criminalise them. In the context of what Harm Koster said with regard to Ireland spending as much on fishery controls as its fish landings are worth, I suggest the Minister make it his remit to amalgamate the SFPA, the Naval Service, the Coastguard and customs. If we could do that, we would get rid of significant bureaucracy. If we did that in line with allowing administrative sanctions, we would protect our waters in all aspects and like the US and Australia would have a real handle on what is going on in our waters.

I commend the Bill and urge the Minister of State to take it on board. He should also, perhaps, listen to some of his own Fianna Fáil coastal colleagues.

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