Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is in the strategy, and that is exactly what we need to do. My point is that this legislation feeds directly into that strategy and into how to do this if we can do it properly.

The big stumbling block we have is that the Minister and the Department say this is in breach of EU legislation and that we cannot do it because it is illegal. However, and as others have pointed out, the European Union has clearly said this is not the case. In fact, Commissioner Vella was asked the question, "Can the Commission clarify if EU regulations can provide for Member States such as Ireland to implement a licensing system that would allow for heritage licences to be issued to island fishermen conducting small-scale and artisanal fishing [...] in order to facilitate the continuance of traditional fishing practices on Ireland's offshore islands, with specific reference to fishing within the six-mile territorial limit, including the baseline?" The answer he gave was as follows:

In line with Article 6 (1) of Regulation (EU) 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy [...], a Union fishing vessel may be used for commercial exploitation of marine biological resources only if it has a valid fishing licence, [which all such vessels have and must have in order to do this in the first place].

Fishing licences referred to in Article 6 of the Control Regulation shall be issued, managed and withdrawn by Member States for their fishing vessels in accordance with this regulation (2).

Indeed, small-scale and artisanal fishing, including by island fishermen using traditional fishing practices on Ireland's offshore islands, is to be considered commercial exploitation.

Therefore, it is up to Member States to decide whether they wish to put in place a licensing system such as mentioned by the Honourable Member. In any case, the issuing of licenses must comply with the ceilings set out in the Annex II and Article 23 of the Basic Regulation on the common fisheries policy.

This relates to the quota system. We are therefore on exactly the same page in this regard. The Commissioner says one must have a licence and access to quota to have a boat and go out fishing and that it is up to the member state as to how it divides that quota and works out the solution. That is what we need to be able to do. This is not some kind of Rubik's cube that we are not able to solve. We can come to a solution here if we can sit down and work it out. Unfortunately, however, because of the notion that a money message is needed for this, we are blocked. Are there 2,700 people currently living on the islands? We are talking about a small portion of the Irish population who need a special advantage because of their isolation and their special status within our economy and our society.

I think we have it within us, we have the genius within us, to work out a solution here. I appeal to the Minister and the Department to go back and try to find a solution. This legislation is not perfect, and I am not suggesting it is. None of the speakers tonight suggested it was perfect. However, it is enough to build on in order to provide a solution which will help those people who so need help. It was pointed out in various reports and by various witnesses who came before the committee that the island population is in continual decline and that the only way or the only chance they have of being able to sustain themselves is for something unique to be put in place for them. I absolutely respect and understand that coastal communities, particularly small-scale fishers in those communities, have similar problems, but they have other options that the islanders do not have. That is what sets them apart and makes them different.

In the context of all that, I appeal to the Minister to go back and reconsider the money message. Perhaps the Ceann Comhairle could advise and assist us in that respect. There are a lot of those money messages and we need to come up with a solution to them. In this case the burden on the State in providing this mechanism to give that advantage to a small sector of people who are so very disadvantaged would be so tiny that it is not worthwhile putting a block in its place, as the Government has done.

I acknowledge that the Minister's commitment to and understanding of the fishing sector is probably greater than mine - he is much closer to the sea than I am - yet we find ourselves on two opposite sides of this issue when we should not be. We should be together on the one side to work out a solution and move forward to ensure we can deliver for this small sector of people. If we can do something that will work for them, we will be able to look at the small inland fishing communities that are also under strain and stress and see what can be done for them. However, there needs to be a unique solution for the unique set of people who live on the islands.

I offer my appreciation and great thanks to Seamus Bonner, Enda Conneely and others in the island organisations who have done so much work and put so much pressure on in order to drive this forward.

Finally, I ask the Minister again, as others have asked him, to sit down with and meet the island fishery organisations, talk to them about this and come up with a solution. I ask him to bring his officials to those meetings not from the point of view of what they cannot do but from the point of view of what they can do. If we enter into this with a can-do attitude, I think we will be able to come out with a solution.

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