Brendan Kenneally (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I looked at the Bill and the wording is not tight enough. That is the problem. The Deputy will not succeed in what he is trying to achieve in the Bill. For that reason I will not be able to support it.

Part of the reason there are problems is that most of the fishermen who are targeted for illegal fishing are the smaller operators who fish closer to shore. We go after the easy target. One could probably say that about enforcement in other walks of life as well, but it is a fact. I recall Commodore Lynch appearing before the committee I mentioned earlier on 12 October 2005. I related an incident to him that had occurred shortly before that in Portally Cove near Dunmore East in my constituency. A person was hauling lobster pots, quite legally. The Southern Regional Fisheries Board vessel came alongside to check him out. That was quite correct; the vessel was only doing its job. However, there was a naval vessel there as well. When I put the matter to Commodore Lynch, he replied that if the Naval Service is called on to assist, it will come inshore to help. It is surely overkill to have a Naval Service vessel coming to support fisheries officers in a case where there is only one person hauling lobster pots. It would be far better employed out at sea catching the real culprits who are doing the real damage and causing problems for our fishing industry.

Some of these large vessels are huge. One of those boats probably does as much damage as 100 smaller vessels, yet it is the smaller vessels that are relentlessly pursued. If I had sufficient time, I had intended to relate a couple of instances where fishermen were prosecuted for minor offences. They went into court with clean records but ended up with criminal records. For that reason, we must change this.

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