Brendan Kenneally (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I am a supporter of administrative sanctions but previously we were told this could not be done. I read the Minister of State's speech last night with interest. His tone was different from what previous fisheries Ministers said in the past. He said: "The Irish legal system, in principle, permits the operation of a fixed penalty notice system in respect of minor penalties which afford the person an opportunity of paying the fixed penalty and avoiding criminal prosecution. Under such a system, fines are only imposed where they are accepted, and if a person wishes to dispute the alleged offence, then the matter is tried by a court." I agree with him. I do not know if the change in tone from what fisheries Ministers said in the past is due to something I stumbled upon some time ago, a by-law of the Southern Regional Fisheries Board. It was Statutory Instrument No. 293, but I am not sure of what year. Basically, that by-law permitted administrative sanctions, so there are administrative sanctions in the fisheries sector. That by-law was approved by the Attorney General. For that reason, I could never understand why we could not introduce administrative sanctions.

See this speech in context