Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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647. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress and or the outcome of the administrative inquiry into the capacity of Ireland to apply the rules of the EU Common Fisheries Policy for which an inquiry was requested by the European Commission in 2019 following the identification of severe and significant weaknesses in the control system here during a Commission audit carried out in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18642/20]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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In July 2019, Ireland received a formal decision of the Commission's intention to conduct an administrative inquiry under Article 102(2) of the 2009 EU Fisheries Control Regulation to evaluate Ireland's capacity to apply the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).  This is further to a 2018 audit carried out by the Commission in Killybegs which identified "several serious deficiencies in the Irish fisheries control system, which threaten to undermine the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)."  Principally, the Commission identified shortcomings related to the effective control of pelagic fisheries, issues related to underreporting of catches of these species;  inadequate and ineffective sanctioning system for offences committed by operators; and the lack of control and enforcement of bluefin tuna catches by recreational vessels.

The formal administrative inquiry requires Ireland to provide information on these specific findings to enable the Commission to further evaluate Ireland's capacity to apply the rules of the CFP and to assess the potential consequences of any failure to do so.  All of the required data has been submitted and the Commission will analyse the information provided by Ireland.  The Commission has not, to date, provided its assessment of the material submitted by Ireland.    

As Minister, I have no role in the operational control matters which formed the Audit's findings.  The monitoring and control of fishing vessels within Ireland's Exclusive Fisheries Zone are matters for the Irish control authorities.  Under the Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006, all operational issues of this nature concerning sea-fisheries control are, as a matter of law, exclusively for the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) and the Naval Service.  The issues arising in the administrative inquiry are primarily operational matters for the SFPA and, as Minister, I am precluded from getting involved in these matters.