Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If the Minister accepts our amendments, it will be a matter for the Attorney General. If the Minister will let me, I will go through all of this because I have made it out in a tabular statement, where the judges have highlighted it. I would go further. The Attorney General who is advising the Minister and who was quoted at the time also has issues with this and no reference was made to that.

The Minister should not suggest to us that it is all on this side of the House. It may well be that the system here regarding statutory instruments is wrong. If it has to be changed, let us change it. Myself, Deputies Willie Penrose, Martin Kenny and others have offered to work with the Minister in coming days. I am sure that Deputy Eamon Ryan will also work with us, and put aside views he might have, to provide the Minister with a statutory instrument that will be acceptable. I am not proposing something off the top of my head. I have consulted widely on this and more than the Minister has. The Minister has consulted on the margins with the industry but he has never set out on a one-item agenda to discuss this.

The article which appeared at the end of March 2018 says:

Mr. Woulfe also warned that a new 'penalty points' system aimed at fishermen who engage in illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing is likely to face a Supreme Court challenge. The Cabinet signed off on legislation to enact new EU laws last week. He described the new bill as "controversial" and "difficult".

Those are not my words, but those of the Attorney General. He said:

The EU loves these things about sanctions regimes. Instead of just prosecuting people and having the criminal system and the civil system, you've something in between which is a sanctions regime.

Those are not my words: they are the words of the Attorney General.

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