Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her question. My Department and I continue to work on the commitment set out in the programme for Government on the banning of pair trawling inside the six-mile limit as a matter of priority.

As the Deputy will be aware, in December 2018, following a public consultation process in which more than 900 submissions were received, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine announced that vessels over 18 m would be excluded from trawling in inshore waters inside the six nautical mile zone from 1 January 2020. A transition period of three years was provided for vessels over 18 m which would have been targeting sprat before that to enable these vessels to adjust, as the sprat fishery is concentrated primarily inside the six nautical mile zone. A policy directive was issued on the back of that.

I am committed to the sustainability of fishing across our waters and to the exclusion of vessels over 18 m from trawling in the waters inside six nautical miles, in line with the commitment we also have in the programme for Government.

As stated in my reply to a previous parliamentary question, the decision to exclude vessels over 18 m from trawling inside the six nautical miles zone has been the subject of ongoing legal proceedings. A judicial review to the High Court was taken by two applicant fishermen and on 6 October 2020, the judge in response to that, as part of the court's summary in advance of the final order, declared the policy void with no legal effect.

I appealed then that decision of the High Court to the Court of Appeal. The court issued an unapproved judgment on 19 July in the past year and issued a final judgment on 10 March past.

My team is now fully assessing the final judgement we have received with a view to taking the next necessary steps to follow through on our commitment to protecting the inshore sector within the six nautical miles.

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