Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is exactly the point I want to address and the purpose of the amendments. There is a big difficulty in that it is almost impossible to define accurately what constitutes being "owned and operated" in Northern Ireland. We cannot be specific about what is a Northern Irish vessel. As the vessels are registered in the United Kingdom, there is no clear Northern Irish designation. Leaving aside the issue of Dutch vessels, on which we touched, even without a flag of convenience there is huge scope for the exploitation of Ireland's inshore waters by English, Scottish and Welsh boats, for example. It is incredibly messy. It is unhelpful in that sense. Many of the arguments made by the Minister are actually arguments for why Ireland should not rush this Bill through with haste. Nobody has given a good reason as to why we need to act with such haste. The amendments try to tidy up various elements a little.

My amendment would provide that only boats owned and operated in Northern Ireland by persons resident in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland would be allowed to fish within the six-mile zone. We have included a proviso in respect of persons resident in the Republic of Ireland who own Northern Irish vessels because we know that this happens on occasion. The amendment would have the effect of only allowing our neighbours to exploit our inshore resources. Only those who live on the island would be allowed to fish in our coastal waters. To me, there would be nothing wrong with this. It is good and we should be doing it. It is eminently fair. If that is the purpose of the Bill, as the Minister sort of says it is, why not do it? What other European country has opened up its six-mile zone to fishermen from any other country in Europe? The United Kingdom has not done it; why, therefore, would Ireland do it now? Why are we considering doing it when our arrangements are totally unclear because of Brexit? I was sorry earlier, but I am even sorrier now that we are ramming the Bill through, given that Brexit has been delayed. There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed, on which I have not heard satisfactory answers so far.

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