James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Kyne for raising this important issue as to whether Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority could agree a single point of inspection for oyster fishermen rather than duplication of inspections. I am responding on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, who sends his apologies.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is responsible for aquaculture licensing and its regulation, a remit which includes oyster farming. However, as the Senator rightly points out, the Minister does not have any responsibility for the licensing of wild oyster fishing. This function falls to Inland Fisheries Ireland, which is an agency under remit of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. I am advised that the inspections by Inland Fisheries Ireland in respect of wild oyster fisheries are required to ensure the vessels involved in fishing for wild oysters are in compliance with the dredging permits issued by that agency.

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, on the other hand, is an independent statutory body established by the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 which has, among its responsibilities, controls in respect of fisheries and seafood safety and enforcement functions. Specifically, section 46 of the 2006 Act provides that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine may give such general policy directions in writing to the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority in relation to its functions as is considered appropriate but that the Minister may not exercise any power or control in relation to individual cases, or groups of cases, with which the authority is concerned, or in relation to the performance in particular circumstances by the authority of its functions, such as that set out under its inspections remit.

I understand the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority inspections regarding wild oyster fisheries involve fishery controls, including compliance with minimum size and traceability requirements, and are specifically required for the enforcement of seafood safety law, both national and EU legislation, that deals with health conditions for the production and placing on the market of fish, shellfish and fisheries products. The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority is an official agency of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, with a service contract agreement in place outlining the agreed level and standard of seafood safety activity the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority performs as a competent authority.The inspections carried out by Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority in respect of wild oyster fisheries are, therefore, conducted under separate statutory functions and are prescribed for different purposes. While the inspections conducted by these statutory agencies are operational matters, I will nonetheless refer this issue to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications for his attention, given that his is the lead Department for wild oyster fisheries. Further advice may be available on the communications between Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority on the wild oyster fisheries concern, the possibilities relating to the inspection process involved and what may be feasible in that regard.