Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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292. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of non-Irish vessels that have received penalty points in Irish waters in 2014 and from January to March 2015. [14590/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The imposition of points for the licence holder of a vessel involved in a serious infringement of the CFP is set out in Article 92 of Council regulation (EC) 1224/2009 and the detailed rules for its implementation are set out in Commission Regulation (EC) 404/2011. These regulations are given effect in S.I. No. 3 of 2014 European Union (Common Fisheries Policy) (Point System) Regulations 2014. Article 126(1) of 404/2011 places the obligation on the Flag Member State of the vessel to assign the points to the licence holder as a result of a serious infringement.

The procedure for vessels held liable for an infringement in the waters of another Member State are set out in Article 126(5) of 404/2011, the implementing rules, which states that the competent authorities of the flag Member State shall assign the points upon notification under Article 89(4) of the Control Regulation. The operation of these articles in the context of S.I. No. 3 of 2014 allows for the foreign licence holder to utilise the appeals mechanism in Ireland, however if found liable for the infringement, the SFPA will notify the competent authorities in the flag Member State of the infringement.

As operational issues in relation to sea fisheries control are a matter for the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA). I have asked the SFPA to respond directly to the Deputy with details of the notifications under Article 89(4) sent to other Member States for the period.

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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293. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of Irish vessels that received penalty points in Irish waters in 2014 and from January to March 2015. [14591/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Commission Regulation 404/2011 requires that points for serious fisheries offences are assigned on the date set in the decision assigning them. In accordance with Regulation 5 of the European Union (Common Fisheries Policy) (Point System) Regulations 2014 (Statutory Instrument No. 3 of 2014), points for serious infringements are assigned by the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) to the holder of the Irish licence and are applicable from the date of detection of the serious infringements. On being notified by the SFPA, points assigned for serious infringements are recorded by the independent Licensing Authority for Sea Fishing Boats, from the date of their detection, against the holder of the licence and against the capacity of the vessel in accordance with Regulations 7 and 8 of SI No 3 of 2014. The points system is a term of an Irish licence in accordance with Regulation 11 of the same SI.

Having been notified by the SFPA, the Licensing Authority has recorded points against one Irish vessel in 2014 and against two Irish vessels in 2015.