Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, I thank Deputy Connolly for providing an opportunity to update the House regarding the recent Court of Appeal ruling on the policy directive introducing a ban on trawling inside the six-nautical mile limit and the events leading up to this ruling. As the House may be aware, in December 2018, following a public consultation process in which over 900 submissions were received, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine announced that vessels over 18 m would be excluded from trawling in inshore waters inside the six-nautical mile zone and the baselines from 1 January 2020. A transition period of three years was allowed for vessels over 18 m targeting sprat to provide a reasonable period of adjustment for these vessels, as the sprat fishery is concentrated inside the six-nautical mile zone.

A policy directive was issued by the Minister to the independent licensing authority to give effect to these measures. The policy directive directed the licensing authority to insert a condition to this effect into the licences of affected vessels. Following this, a judicial review to the High Court was taken by two applicant fishermen, challenging the validity of the policy. On 6 October 2020, the judge held, in summary, that the High Court’s final order should include a declaration that policy directive 1 of 2019 was made in breach of fair procedures and is void and-or of no legal effect.

The breach of fair procedures referenced above related to a failure to consult with the applicants in accordance with, and to the extent required by, the consultation process and, in particular, by failing to consult with them a second time once a preferred option had been identified.

A stay on the order was refused by the High Court on 10 December 2020. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, appealed the decision of the High Court to the Court of Appeal, also seeking a stay on the order of the High Court. The Court of Appeal reinstated the ministerial policy directive on 19 March 2021, when the court was persuaded that the balance of justice leaned in favour of the State and granted a stay on the order of the High Court up until the hearing of the substantive appeal in June. Following a full hearing by the Court of Appeal on 22 June 2021, the court decided to temporarily extend the policy directive excluding large vessels from trawling in inshore waters within 6 miles of the coast, save for a restricted sprat fishery. On September 23 2021, the Court of Appeal refused the application the Minister had made to further continue the stay. This refusal meant that the decision of the High Court stood. This allowed vessels over 18 m in length to resume trawling in the waters inside 6 nautical miles. The Court of Appeal issued an unapproved judgment on 19 July last and requested further submissions from both parties. These were provided to the court on the Minister’s behalf.

As the House may be aware, the Court of Appeal issued a final judgment on 10 March last stating that the applicant fishers were successful on “the narrowest of grounds”. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, is currently consulting legal advisers to consider the implications of the judgment and the possible next steps.

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