Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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181. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the groups and bodies which were consulted in relation to SI No. 125 of 2016, European Union (Common Fisheries Policy) (Point System) Regulations 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4962/16]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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182. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason under SI No. 125 of 2016, European Union (Common Fisheries Policy) (Point System) Regulations 2016, a fisherman who has penalty points added and is taken to court for the same infringement but, who subsequently does not receive a conviction, cannot have his or her points cancelled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4963/16]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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192. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of the new penalty point system for fishermen (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5097/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 181, 182 and 192 together.

By way of background I should advise the Deputies that concerns have been raised about the lack of a level playing field across the EU in fisheries control and the treatment of vessels from different Member States. To help deal with this situation, a new control framework was introduced by the European Commission. One of the important new tools was introduced under Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy (the EU Fisheries “Control” Regulation), which requires Member States tointer alia have in place legal provisions to implement a Points system for serious infringements of the EU Common Fisheries Policy. The number of points to be attributed for specific infringements is fixed at EU level. The EU requirement is that every time a serious infringement is committed, the appropriate number of points will be attributed to the licence holder of the vessel concerned. This EU Points system is applicable to all fishing vessels which fish in the Irish exclusive fisheries zone, whether they are Irish or Foreign flagged.

Ireland had previously implemented the required EU Points system for serious infringements by fishing vessel licence holders by means of Statutory Instrument No. 3 of 2014 which gave effect to the EU requirement in Irish law. This Statutory instrument was the subject of two recent High Court challenges and was struck down. The two High Court Judgements are subject to appeal. As Ireland is required to have in place a legal instrument implementing the EU Points system a new amended legal instrument was drafted and put in place which took on board, to the extent possible, issues of concern in relation to procedures and process which had been highlighted in the High Court Cases.

In recent weeks, I was faced with a difficult choice when the Court struck down the previous regulation implementing the EU points system.The approach I chose will, I believe, support the vast majority of law abiding fishermen depending on healthy fish stocks. The alternative would have exposed law abiding Irish fishermen to the serious consequences of illegal overfishing by a small number of Foreign and Irish fishing vessels, thereby threatening the future of our industry. I, accordingly, signed the replacement legal instrument, with amended procedures and processes, (S.I. No. 125 of 2016 - European Union (Common Fisheries Policy) (Point System) Regulations 2016) on 1 March 2016.

The new regulation will apply points to Foreign and Irish fishing vessel licence holders who are held  responsible for serious fishery offences such as fishing in protected areas, under-declaring, by a significant amount, the quantities of fish landed, failing to give the required notice of the intention to land to avoid an inspection. 

These types of serious offences are thankfully very uncommon.  From my perspective, my responsibility is to ensure that we have a level playing field for everybody involved in the fishing industry. That means ensuring that the rules are kept.We must implement the sanction of EU points as an effective sanction against that minority in order to protect the majority of our industry.

The fishing grounds in Ireland’s 200 mile fishing zone are some of the most productive in the EU.Fishing fleets of the UK, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Lithuania, as well as the Irish fishing fleet, are active in these grounds.  Many of the fishing vessels are very large and have the capacity to catch large volumes of fish. Stocks in our zone are always under pressure.  The challenge for Ireland, which has legal responsibility to control all fishing activity in our 200 mile zone,  is to effectively monitor and control the activities of all these fleets under the EU legal framework that applies equally across all these fleets.  If we fail, we will undermine the future of our own fishing industry which is almost totally dependent on these fishing grounds. The EU Points system is an important safeguard for our industry in this regard. 

In bringing in this new regulation to implement the EU points system replacing the regulation struck down in the Court, I ensured that there were some very significant changes made. Those changes reflected the concerns fishermen had raised about the previous regulation. I sought to strike a balance between Ireland's obligations under EU law and the need to give licence holders a fair hearing.

In the new regulation, this is done by setting up a new type of Determination Panel and a right to apply to an independent Adjudicator if the licence holder is dissatisfied with a determination of the Panel. Under the previous regulation, the submission of the case by the sea fishery officer established that an infringement had taken place and the SFPA board decided only if it were serious or not. In the revised system the infringement is only alleged until the new Determination Panel consider the evidence and this evidence is provided to the licence holder, who may make a submission to the Determination Panel before the panel consider the matter, thus re-balancing the burden of proof. The new Determination Panel replaces the 3 person panel of the SFPA. The new regulation requires that the panel give reasons for a determination so that a respondent may assess his prospects at an appeal. Finally, under the new regulation the licence holder may appeal on a point of law a decision of the independent fisheries Adjudicator to the High Court.  In the previous regulation, this appeal was “final and conclusive” – this aspect of the provision has been removed.

With regard to proposals that the EU points system should be combined with a successful prosecution through the Courts, on the surface, this appears like a reasonable option and it was examined carefully.  However, this approach does not meet the legal requirements set down by the EU points system.Firstly, in the majority of infringement cases, the Licence Holder is a different person or legal entity to the person on the vessel (the skipper) who commits an offence and who will be prosecuted.  Therefore, there is no connection between the assignment of points to the Licence holder and the prosecution by the Courts of offences under fishery law.  In addition, the EU regulations require that points be assigned from the date of the detection of the 'serious infringement' and will remain on a licence for three years from that date. That requires that the procedures are sufficiently swift to be determined in as short a time as possible.  Fishery prosecutions under the Irish legal system may take some considerable time before they are finally determined and if the EU points are linked to the completion of the prosecution, they would have limited impact as the three year timeframe would be well advanced or indeed may well have expired.

The position regarding the matter of points assigned under the old regulation is that these points will remain “in suspense” pending the outcome of an appeal. If the appeal fails, then the points assigned under the old regulation will be abolished.  In any event, they will not be acted upon in advance of the judgement and will not be combined with any new points assigned under the new regulation.The fixed payment notice provision relates to a failure by a licence holder to inform a potential future licence holder of assignment of points which involves a summary offence. The arrangement in place involves the option for a person alleged to have committed the offence relating to a failure to inform a potential future licence holder of assignment of points to make a payment of €200 to avoid prosecution in the court in respect of this offence. The person is not obliged to make the payment and may opt for a Court hearing. This is an option given to a licence holder and was in place in the 2014 regulation and was not subject to challenge in the Courts.

I plan to bring forward primary legislation to give a sound legal basis to a scheme that implements the EU points system for licence holders. In that context, to provide the necessary consultation, I will commence a Regulatory Impact Analysis on this aspect of the new Bill in the near future.

Irish fishermen should be assured that the State is taking seriously their concerns that a fishing industry can be maintained for them and those coming after them.  The conservation of this precious and valuable resource is in everyone's interest and is vital for the future of the Irish fishing industry. An effective regulation implementing the EU Points system for Foreign and Irish vessels who commit serious offences fishing in our 200 mile zone is necessary to protect the vast majority of our law abiding industry and to preserve the fishing resources for all Irish fishermen and for future generations.