Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 34: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position in relation to Ireland's submission claiming an extension of the continental shelf under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21793/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The regime governing the exploration and exploitation of the continental shelf in international law is set down by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. Under that convention a coastal state is entitled to a continental shelf 200 nautical miles (approximately 370 km) in breadth regardless of whether its continental shelf physically extends that far, subject only to the similar rights of its coastal neighbours. It may also claim a broader shelf where it can show that the natural prolongation of its land territory under water actually extends beyond that limit. A claim to extended shelf must be supported by scientific and technical data and be established to the satisfaction of the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, which was created by the convention for this purpose. Ireland's shelf naturally extends beyond 200 nautical miles both to the west and to the south of the country. For the purposes of our claims we have divided the extended shelf into three sectors.

The first sector is to the south-west of the country on the edge of an area known as the Porcupine Abyssal Plain. This sector (which is approximately half the size of the State's land territory) is not disputed by any other state and was therefore the subject of Ireland's first submission to the Commission, made in May 2005. Having considered this submission, in April 2007 the Commission issued its recommendations. These confirmed Ireland's entitlement to extend our continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in this sector and set out details of where the outer limit of the shelf should be established there. The recommendations permit Ireland to designate extended shelf of approximately 39,000 square kilometres in area.

This is a very satisfactory outcome and, accordingly, on 31 March last the Government made an Order under section 2 of the Continental Shelf Act 1968 which designates the additional seabed enclosed by the recommended limits as an area to which the 1968 Act applies. The Order has been laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas in accordance with section 14 of the Act. The effect of the Order is formally to establish the area concerned as Irish continental shelf.

The second sector of claimed extended continental shelf is in the Celtic Sea and the Bay of Biscay, where there are unresolved boundary issues with the UK, France and Spain. This sector was the subject of a joint submission made by the four countries in May 2006. It covers an area of approximately 80,000 square kilometres, which is slightly larger than the State's land territory.

The joint submission was examined by a subcommission established to consider the evidence submitted in support of it. The four states met with the subcommission on a number of occasions, following which it formulated draft recommendations on the entitlement of the four to extend the continental shelf in this sector and setting out details of where the outer limit should be established there. These recommendations were transmitted to the full Commission, which in turn adopted them on 24 March last. The recommendations are now under examination by the four states concerned, after which the question of division of the area between them will also be addressed.

Ireland also claims continental shelf in the part of the North-East Atlantic Ocean known as the Hatton-Rockall Area, which extends up to 500 nautical miles from the coast. Ireland and the UK agreed a maritime boundary on the continental shelf here in 1988 but this is not accepted by Iceland or Denmark, which is acting on behalf of the Færoe Islands, both of which also make extensive overlapping claims. The UN Commission's rules of procedure prevent its consideration of a submission concerning an area of disputed continental shelf without the consent of the states concerned. The four have met regularly since 2001 (most recently in London before Christmas) but have so far failed to reach an agreement that would allow the Commission to consider a submission on the area concerned.

In view of this, and in consideration of the 12 May 2009 deadline for the making of submissions that applied to Ireland, the Government authorised the making of a national submission to the Commission in respect of the Hatton-Rockall Area. This submission was lodged with the Commission in New York on 31 March. While the Commission's rules of procedure prevent its consideration without the consent of all the states concerned, submission at this time does preserve Ireland's legal position. In the meantime, the four states intend to keep the matter under regular review and we will continue to work for the creation of conditions that will permit consideration of the submission by the Commission as soon as possible.