Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 934: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if Irish fisheries protection officers operate from British naval vessels. [10944/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) recently participated in a Joint Deployment operation under the auspices of the Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA), a European Union body established in 2005 to organise operational coordination of fisheries control and inspection activities by the Member States, including the United Kingdom.

The Joint Deployment Plans of the CFCA are the vehicle through which that Agency organises operational coordination between Member States. Member States pool the national human and material means of control and inspection under the JDP's whilst the CFCA coordinates the deployment of these means.

The Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 clearly provides that the SFPA is independent in the exercise of its functions and as such I have no remit as to its work programme, its deployment of resources, or its operational activities.