Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Library and Research Service, LRS, digest has been very useful for many of us because it has encapsulated many of the concerns that have been brought to our attention. As Members will know, it has issued a paper in response to the Bill. Certainly, many issues were raised in respect of the Bill at pre-legislative scrutiny, PLS, stage, which must be sufficiently addressed by the Government. In table 2 of the LRS digest, it has supplied a traffic light dashboard comparing the Bill as published to the committee's PLS recommendations.

I will highlight four key issues inherent in the Bill and quote directly from the report. The first issue, per the committee report, is:

Questionable fairness of allocating points system. The standard of proof required threshold is based upon balance of probabilities rather than culpability beyond a reasonable doubt.

In their PLS the Joint Committee identified the potentially problematic nature of a Determination Panel concluding on the balance of probabilities as evidenced by the report of the Authority, rather than a threshold for proof required.

All alleged serious infringements are made by means of a written report by the Authority. Section 6 of the Bill provides that a Determination Panel will be established for the purpose of determining whether a serious infringement has occurred and whether a person was, at the time, the master of the sea-fishing boat.

In addressing an appeals process, an Appeals Officer will be assigned at the Authority. A time period of 30 days is available in which to submit to the Appeals Officer. The appeal must be in writing, by the master and is subject to a fee (to be determined).

The issue raised by the committee was that "The Bill does not address concerns regarding the ‘balance of probabilities’ providing the required threshold of proof, nor how existing reports and/or points may or may not be considered in the Authority’s assessment of further alleged infringements." That is the first issue.

The second issue is the weighing of fishery products in-factory. The committee's PLS report - and I quote again from the digest -states "The Bill as published does not cover or address this issue."

The third issue is the application of penalty points to EU and non-EU vessels. There was "particular concern that UK vessels in Irish waters are advantaged". According to the digest:

The Bill does not provide for assigning penalty points to or having a register of points assigned to foreign nationals. Instead, a provision in Section 6 (15I) includes that points assigned to a foreign master will be notified in writing to the relevant authorities of the relevant Member State. The UK is not specified. Thus the Bill does not provide for the Authority dealing with serious infringements by UK fishing masters in Irish territorial waters in the same way as provided for other EU Member States.

The fourth key issue is fair administration and Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, capacity and resourcing with regard to the register of penalty points. At the prelegislative scrutiny stage, the committee stated that the Bill did not have provisions for organisational capacity or resourcing for the SFPA.

These are just four issues. I have quoted directly from the Bill digest because its language best encapsulates some of the key issues exercising communities throughout the country. I hope that, in response to this Stage of the Bill, the Minister who is in possession might further articulate how these very pertinent and key issues are to be dealt with.

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