Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not know where the Minister is getting his information but the information I have is that these Russian and Icelandic factory ships are operating inside the 200-mile territorial limit. How is the exclusion zone is being policed? The SFPA is not policing it because it does not go out that far. Is the Department depending on the Naval Service to police the area?

On the Norwegian agreement, will the Minister to confirm that 250,000 tonnes of blue whiting was given to Norway in return for 30 tonnes of cod for the Irish fleet?

On the SFPA and monitoring, the Minister will tell me that the authority can monitor the area by way of satellite and so forth. That is the answer that we get all of the time but, in reality, that is not the case. If vessels enter Irish territorial waters but there is nobody within 100 miles to police them, they can fish those waters and leave again.

Was the Russian boat currently in Castletownbere inspected by the SFPA? Did inspectors board her and check the type of fish that she had on board? She was fishing for a significant time before she broke down. I understand that she lost a propeller. Did the SFPA board the Russian vessel that towed her in to determine the type of species on board and whether any of the catch came from Irish or European territorial waters?

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