Dáil debates
Thursday, 14 December 2023
Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions
Fishing Industry
9:20 am
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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5. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the projected financial loss to the vessels of the Irish fishing fleet arising from the actions of the UK and Scottish Governments in blocking them from fishing in their traditional fishing grounds around Rockall for the past number of years; and to provide an update on the status of negotiations with the UK and Scottish Governments, aimed at finding a resolution. [55295/23]
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister and I have debated and discussed this issue on numerous occasions. I refer to the continued outrageous blocking by the British and Scottish Governments of our Irish fishermen from fishing in their traditional grounds around Rockall. Rockall is an uninhabited rock. A six- or 12-mile zone cannot be put in place around an uninhabited rock. It could not be more clear in international law. Therefore, when will this debacle finally end and the millions of euro that have been lost to our fishermen reinstated?
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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This is an important issue to fishermen in north Donegal, particularly those in Greencastle who fish for haddock off the Rockall bank. It is a really important fishing ground for them. It is an issue the Deputy and I have discussed on a number of occasions.
As I have explained before, Rockall has always been within the 200-mile zone of UK waters. It was never within the 200-mile zone of Irish waters. We had frank discussions on that before when I indicated and called the Deputy up on comments he made that might have indicated that somehow it was within the Irish 200-mile zone at some stage, which was never the case. It has always been within the UK's 200-mile zone. Therefore, the UK would have those waters around it. As the Deputy rightly said, the issue here is that because it is an uninhabitable rock, it should not be able to impose a six- or 12-mile exclusion zone to our fleet around that rock, which is what can be done with a habitable island, for example, Tory or any of our islands. The exclusive zone can go within 12 miles around those.
This is one of the outworkings of Brexit, unfortunately, whereby there is now more capacity for the UK Government to put licences and restrictions on the licences for Irish boats going into its waters. It put this restriction on licences for any Irish boat that goes into UK waters in terms of not being able to access the 12 miles around Rockall. We do not agree with that. We have a traditional fishing right there, which we have always said and should continue to be able to have. I have been engaging diplomatically, through the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Martin, and his predecessor, Deputy Coveney, with the Scottish and UK authorities to try to find a resolution to this. We have not been able to make the progress we would like on that yet. It is a really important fishing ground. We will continue to do that. The way to resolve this is diplomatically, if we can, because any legal approach around it will likely take many years and see us locked out for a long time. We will, therefore, continue to engage. It is disappointing that we have not been able to find an outcome to it, but we will continue to work to get it.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister may know that a recent report in The Guardian newspaper covered this issue. I actually spoke to the journalist who covered it, namely, Mr. Rory Carroll. He has been advised that this issue may be moving towards a solution and that people in previous positions wanted to resolve it. I am going to say "Who?". Ms Nicola Sturgeon, the former Scottish First Minister, apparently wanted to resolve it. It is remarkable that the British Government has been outside the equation because this is a jurisdictional issue first and foremost. The Scottish Government merely implements the laws in terms of the marine space around Scotland. This is, therefore, a British Government issue. It is absolutely outrageous. How did this get beyond the Brexit negotiations and the EU–UK trade and co-operation agreement? How was the British Government allowed to neglect this whole issue and then just sit back and let the Scottish Government take the heat over it? That is really something we need to be very clear about. This is a jurisdictional issue. It is an outrageous overreach by the British Government. It has to stop.
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Obviously, I have to be measured in what I say because there are diplomatic efforts under way to try to resolve this issue. The newspaper coverage to which the Deputy referred will show there are genuine efforts being made by the Irish Government to try to find a way forward on this. We want to try to resolve this. It is really important for Greencastle fishermen in particular, but also in terms of the squid fishery for fishermen from many different parts of the country. It is particularly challenging from the point of view of fishing haddock because much of the best haddock from that fishery is sometimes between six- and 12-mile zone, which, as things stand, our fishermen cannot access because the licences we have for entry into British waters restrict access to those 12 miles.
We will continue to work hard on this. I met with the Greencastle fishermen co-operative and the fishermen who are affected by this again recently to discuss it. We will continue to engage and try to find a way to restore what would have been a traditional fishing right there. There is no doubt that Brexit has made this much more challenging, but the work is continuing.
9:30 am
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister referred to the 2013 agreement. The difficulty was that agreement was made in the context of all waters beyond the 12-mile limit being under the jurisdiction of the Common Fisheries Policy. Rockall was under the Common Fisheries Policy. Both Governments had an interest in allowing fair access. It is extraordinary the trade and co-operation agreement allowed the British Government to take advantage of the new reality and to put this arbitrary limit around Rockall.
Unfortunately, the Government passed legislation, the Maritime Jurisdiction Act, that implemented the 2013 agreement. That agreement never came through these Houses. It would be questionable under the Supreme Court, given the voisinageagreement precedent. It would have been questionable if that 2013 agreement was legal under Irish law but we made it legal at a time when Britain was behaving so badly.
We have made mistakes, from the Irish Government's perspective, but I accept that the Minister has been engaging. It is clear from The Guardianand from freedom of information, that the Irish Government has been repeatedly raising this. This is extreme bad faith on the part of the British Government and we need to call it out. It has to end. It has to stop.
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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We are working to try to take every step possible. I am aware how important it is to both Greencastle fishermen regarding haddock and access within the 12-mile zone and to fishermen in the squid fishery. As I have said to the Deputy, the 2013 agreement has no bearing whatsoever on the status of Rockall. I stated earlier to the Deputy what the 2013 agreement did. I think he accepts this. Rockall has always been within the 200-mile zone of British waters. What we contest is that they should have a 12-mile exclusion zone, which is acceptable under international standards where there is an inhabited island owned by a country, but this is not inhabited. We dispute totally the fact they should have a 12-mile zone.
What happened in 2013 was simply there was a grey area that ran from north of Inishowen out into the sea along the 200-miles line between ourselves and the UK and there were a few miles in that which both navies managed and oversaw. They simply drew a line up the middle of that in the 2013 agreement to remove the grey area. Rockall is many miles north of that. It was not relevant to that piece at all.
We have been working hard on this. It means a lot for our Greencastle fishermen and for the squid fishermen. We continue to engage to get access again to that traditional fishery that we would have fished.