As I advised the House before the summer recess, the monitoring of activities in waters within Ireland's exclusive economic zone, including the Irish Box, is undertaken by the Naval Service and the Air Corps, agencies of the Department of Defence. My Department is kept informed routinely as to the trends and levels of activities detected in these waters. Particular attention has been, and continues to be, paid to vessel activities within the Irish Box as this area has been the subject of particular fisheries measures.
The Irish authorities are continuing to monitor closely activity within the Irish Box. In relation to the specific restriction on the number of Spanish vessels permitted within the Irish Box at any one time, the number has remained below the 40 vessels threshold in the relevant EU regulations.
This matter was not discussed at the EU Fisheries Council on 22 July as the Italian Presidency considered that the issue warranted further detailed discussion and technical analysis in the relevant Council working group. The issue, however, is to be discussed again at next Monday's Fisheries Council in Luxembourg and I will be pressing strongly for the matter to be finalised at that Council.
The Italian Presidency has recently tabled a compromise which moves considerably forward from the Commission's proposal of last December but in my view it does not adequately address all of our concerns. We are continuing to work on securing necessary improvements to the compromise proposal in order to ensure that fish stocks in the waters around our coast receive the necessary level of protection.