Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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327. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of negotiations with the UK Government in respect of asserting the rights of Irish fishers to fish within the 12-mile limit around Rockall. [5464/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I continue to work closely with my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, on Rockall. We, along with our respective officials, are considering all options for further engagement on the issues involved.

The Government has been in contact with the relevant Scottish and UK authorities on Rockall over recent years, and intensively since the beginning of the year. 

The issue was raised in the context of my meeting with my Scottish counterpart, Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs, Michael Russell, on 14 January 2021. We agreed to keep in contact on the issue.

The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement has been provisionally applied since 1 January 2021 and Irish officials also remain in ongoing contact with the European Commission on all matters relating to the Agreement, including fisheries.

Through the range of engagements set out, the Government is seeking to address the issues involved, reflecting the longstanding fisheries tradition in the area.

While this continues, there remains an increased risk of enforcement action being taken by Scottish fisheries control authorities against Irish vessels operating in the waters around Rockall at present.

Ireland has never made any claims to Rockall, which is a small uninhabitable granite rock located approximately 160 nautical miles west of the Scottish islands of St. Kilda and some 230 nautical miles to the north-west of Donegal.  Nor has Ireland ever recognised British sovereignty claims over Rockall, and accordingly has not recognised a 12 nautical mile territorial sea around it either. This remains the position of the Government.