Seanad debates
Wednesday, 19 June 2019
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Rockall Island Ownership
10:30 am
Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I apologise to the Minister. We skipped him earlier as Senator Mac Lochlainn was slightly delayed.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein)
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This House debated the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill earlier this year. The central premise of the Government's argument was that it was important to permit UK-registered vessels to have access to Irish fisheries right to the shoreline and to reinstate the principle of voisinage agreements ahead of Brexit, to build good relations with the British Government. In recent weeks, the Scottish Government has stated that Scotland will board Irish vessels and take them back to Scottish ports, and will take the owners to court, if needs be, to defend what they call their 12-mile limit around Rockall.
At the time we wondered. This is not typical behaviour of the SNP government, led by Nicola Sturgeon. Normally, it is a prudent government. However, now, several issues have emerged. The 2013 bilateral agreement, which was signed by the then-Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, at a time the current Taoiseach and Tánaiste were in government, with the latter having responsibility for the marine - recognises not only the exclusive British economic zone around Rockall but also significant waters around it. They have drawn a marine boundary and signed a bilateral agreement. That agreement was never laid before these Houses. It has never been open to the scrutiny of these Houses. No fisheries organisations were consulted about the agreement. I seek legal clarification, therefore, from the Minister as to the status of that agreement, how it impacts on the Scottish or British claim to Rockall and the fisheries around it, and, perhaps, oil and gas reserves. What is the status of that agreement stands and why was it signed?
Second, why did the Minister fail to make it clear to the Oireachtas Members he briefed, having spoken to both Houses, at the time that he sought to reinstate that arrangement under the Sea Fisheries (Amendment) Bill? Why did he not make clear that at that time the Scottish Government was corresponding with him and threatening to board Irish vessels, asserting their authority over the 15-mile limit? Why did he not think it necessary to make Members aware of that at the time? Does he think that would have impacted on the decision made by these Houses? The fisheries organisations are very angry. Some say they acted in good faith when they were briefed by the Minister to support the legislation, which they did reluctantly, but now they have learned of the correspondence with the Scottish Government to the effect that Britain was reasserting its rights and trying to keep Irish vessels out of its waters, and that far from Ireland not standing up for its interests, we would give them more. It is extraordinary. We need answers.
Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Tánaiste received a formal letter of notice from the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop MSP, on 31 May, stating that Scotland would deploy vessels in the Rockall area to take "enforcement action" against Irish vessels found fishing within 12 miles of Rockall.
Ireland's position is that there is no basis for excluding Irish fishing vessels from the waters around Rockall as they are legitimately pursuing EU fishing opportunities and have done so unhindered for decades. We do not accept that there is any justification for enforcement action against Irish vessels fishing legitimately in these waters. The United Kingdom claims sovereignty over Rockall and a 12-mile territorial sea around it. The United Kingdom first made its claim of sovereignty in 1955 and sought to incorporate it as part of the UK in its domestic law by virtue of the Island of Rockall Act 1972.
The Irish Government has never sought to claim sovereignty over Rockall. Its position has been, and remains, that it does not accept the UK’s claim to sovereignty over Rockall, which it regards as forming part of the UK's exclusive economic zone and, accordingly, part of European Union waters under the Common Fisheries Policy, to which the principle of equal access for the vessels of all EU member states applies. Irish vessels have operated unhindered in the Rockall zone for many decades fishing haddock, squid and other species.
I met as soon as possible representatives of the Irish fishing sector to inform them of the letter from the Scottish authorities, but also confirmed that Ireland’s position on Rockall had not changed. The industry representatives explained that Ireland's main fisheries in the Rockall area are for haddock and squid and both fisheries are of substantial economic importance to our fishing fleet based in Greencastle, Killybegs, Castletownbere and other ports. The industry was appreciative of that engagement, but was also concerned at the possibility that unjustified enforcement action might be taken against them. The issue was not raised by me during the debates on the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill earlier this year as it was not relevant to that debate and even it had been, I do not believe that the position of Scotland on Rockall would have, or should have, influenced in any way our determination to re-establish the longstanding entitlements of Northern Irish fishermen under the voisinagearrangement. This was the right thing to do in the interests of all the peoples on this island.
We have built with Scotland a strong and positive relationship to our mutual benefits over many years. I hope that we can use that close relationship to find a way to resolve these matters and to remove the unacceptable threat of enforcement action against Irish vessels.
Dialogue is continuing between the Irish and Scottish Governments and there have been close contacts at official level which are ongoing. It has been agreed that a process of intensified engagement will take place, led by senior officials from both administrations. We are hopeful that on this basis the latest difficulties can be de-escalated.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein)
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I refer to Article 10.4 of the Constitution. It is clear regarding the responsibility of the Minister and the Government to ensure that any alienation of minerals or waters is brought before these Houses, so that the Houses of the people have their say on the matter. Despite what the Minister has just told the House, in 2013, the agreement I have before me was put before Westminster. Our Government co-signed this bilateral agreement, which recognises the exclusive economic zone of the United Kingdom including Rockall and vast waters around it. This was from 2013 when the current Taoiseach and the Tánaiste were members of Cabinet, but the agreement was never laid before these Houses.
That was in contravention of Article 10.4 of the Constitution. I ask that the Minister bring that agreement for debate or ratification before these Houses at the earliest opportunity. I believe this agreement is void until he does so.
The words are there on paper. I listened to the words of the Minister and the Tánaiste, Deputy Coveney, and initially I thought they were strong words. I though he was defending Ireland's interests and was puzzled as to why the Scottish Government was behaving in this way but it turns out that we gave them the grounds to do so in 2013. I find it extraordinary that we agreed the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, which I accept went through these Houses democratically, but the Minister did not put the correspondence from the Scottish Government before us. They were telling us they wanted us out of what I regard as waters in which Irish vessels have the right to fish. I am not so brazen as to claim faraway territories but we must insist always on the right to fishing resources or all other resources around Rockall as shared resources.Iceland is contesting this bilateral agreement to the UN. It has a different perspective. Why are we not uniting with Iceland? Why are we not uniting with Denmark to ensure it is a shared space? My fear is that after Brexit, when EU fisheries policy no longer applies to the UK, we will have a serious problem on our hands. I ask the Minister to reflect on all of this and to realise that the 2013 agreement needs to be brought back before the Oireachtas as soon as possible for debate and democratic ratification or rejection by these Houses. I hope it will be rejected. I will strongly advocate its rejection. The Minister needs to explain further why this was not on the table when we were dealing with the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill.
Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I have given the Senator some extra time because I appreciate that this is a very sensitive matter, particularly for his local area.
Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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It is worth bearing a number of points in mind. The UK claims sovereignty on Rockall. We do not recognise that sovereignty. We have not claimed sovereignty on Rockall. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a claim on sovereignty is unable to establish an exclusive 12-mile zone around an uninhabitable island. We believe our fishermen are pursuing a legitimate opportunity to fish in that region for quotas that have been allocated to them under EU Common Fisheries Policy legislation. The Senator seems to be conflating the issue of sovereignty around Rockall with the entirely different issue of the exclusive economic zone. Rockall rests within the UK's exclusive economic zone. That issue has been negotiated. In fact, when the final draft of the exclusive economic zone agreement mentioned by the Senator was concluded, following protracted negotiations, it was much more favourable than what had originally been proposed. I think there is a degree of misinformation and conflation of issues here. The issue of the accepted definition of the boundary between our exclusive economic zone and the UK's exclusive economic zone is entirely different from the matter of an exclusion zone being in place around Rockall on the basis of sovereignty. The bottom line here is in respect of sovereignty. We do not recognise UK sovereignty. We believe we have been fishing there legitimately and continue to fish there legitimately. On the question of voisinage, there is no issue connecting these two matters. The voisinagelegislation was about reinstating the right of Northern Ireland boats to fish in our inshore waters, which they had previously enjoyed. When that legislation was being considered, we enjoyed the right to fish in their inshore waters.