Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I would hope that there would be co-operation between EU member states and that information sought would be provided without difficulty. The information on both these vessels was, ultimately, provided and no issue now arises. However, a substantial number of boardings of Spanish vessels has occurred. In 2010, there were 204 boardings of French vessels and 151 boardings of UK vessels.

The fact that a vessel is boarded does not necessarily mean that illegality is detected when it is boarded. This is all part of a process to protect our fisheries and to ensure that people are complying with the law. There have been a disproportionate number of boardings of Spanish ships. I would hope that difficulties that arise in this area would be resolved. If the new electronic recording is not available, I would hope that paper records would be available. It is not satisfactory that neither be immediately available to the Naval Service when sought.

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