Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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452. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amendments proposed or being considered to the Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006; the efforts being made to ensure that fishermen are afforded procedural fairness at all times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3190/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The main purpose of the possible legislative amendments currently being considered is to provide for a points system for masters of fishing vessels for serious infringements of the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy, as required by Council Regulation 1224/2009. The draft amending legislation under consideration would also affirm that fishing quotas are a publicly-owned resource, that sea fisheries can be managed in compliance with EU environmental directives or food safety law. Finally the draft amending legislation would resolve some typographical errors in the Principal Act of 2006 and introduce other miscellaneous and technical amendments. The contents of the draft amending legislation, which has not yet been approved or finalised, will provide for appropriate procedures to ensure fairness in any relevant provisions.

The Heads of this are currently being finalised. Thereafter, it will be necessary to submit a Memorandum to Government seeking approval for the drafting of a Bill along the lines of the General Scheme, and forwarding the General Scheme for consideration to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine in the context of Pre-legislative Scrutiny prior to its submission to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for drafting.

A Regulatory Impact analysis (RIA) was prepared to analyse the key areas of inter alia the Points System for Masters, the legislative underpinning of the policy of quota as a national asset and marine environmental regulations. This was published on the Department’s website in September 2014 and used as a discussion document throughout autumn and winter 2014 during consultations with fishermen, fish processors, producer organisations and other stakeholders.