Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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20. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans for publishing the Sea Fisheries Bill; the timeframe for its introduction; if he will provide an overview of its content and its impact on the sea fisheries sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12359/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The main purposes of the Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Bill are to provide for a points system for serious infringements by skippers and licence holders of the Common Fisheries Policy as required by Council Regulation 1224/2009; to affirm that fishing quotas are a national resource; and to introduce other miscellaneous and technical amendments.

It is anticipated that the most significant impact of the Bill will be its contribution to the promotion of compliance with fisheries law.  The masters’ and licence holders’ points systems are key components in the EU Control framework aimed at promoting compliance with Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) rules by addressing situations where individuals repeatedly commit serious infringements of those rules.    

 I am planning to include provisions relating to the long-standing Government policy that quotas are a national asset in primary legislation.  This  will support the public ownership of national quotas and protect against any unintended privatisation of quotas, ensuring that benefits arising from such quotas are not lost to the State and the coastal communities reliant on the fishing industry. 

I am currently awaiting further legal advice of the Attorney General in relation to the required EU points system for sea-fishing boat licence holders.  Apart from this issue, my Department’s work is advanced on drafting the General Scheme of a Bill.  

 Once the draft General Scheme has been finalised, the next step would be to undertake a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on the Points System for Licence Holders. This will take approximately six weeks of public consultation. The RIA for the other elements of the draft Bill has already been carried out.

Thereafter, I plan to submit a Memorandum to Government seeking approval for the drafting of the Bill along the lines of the General Scheme and the forwarding of the General Scheme for consideration to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine.  This will provide for Pre-legislative Scrutiny prior to its submission to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for drafting.