P J Sheehan (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

If the Minister holds such strong views on this issue why does he not accept the Bill on Second Stage and come forward with amendments on Committee Stage, at which point he would still have a majority?

I hear complaints on a daily basis about the over-vigorous enforcement of regulations by officers of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, which has more than twice as many fisheries protection officers as the combined totals of the authorities in France and Spain. The laws in question were imposed by this Government, not by the EU. Every other country in the European Union is capable of administering these sanctions under administrative rules rather than in criminal courts.

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