Vol. 408 No. 5
16 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Defence his views on whether, having regard to the substantial amount of fish poaching by foreign trawlers, a shift in the allocation of resources of his Department should be made from the Army to the Navy to enable additional fishery protection vessels to be purchased and manned.
The naval service has seven patrol vessels at its disposal for fishery surveillance duties, including two vessels which were acquired in 1988. The vessels are fitted with modern communications and computerised information systems for use in fishery protection activities.
In accordance with the EC approved progamme a contract has been placed for the acquisition of two CASA CN235 maritime patrol aircraft for the Air Corps for the purpose of aerial surveillance of fishery resources. Pending the manufacture of these aircraft an existing CASA CN235 aircraft has been purchased for fishery surveillance and will be delivered in June 1991.
An expansion of the existing Naval service fishery information system is also planned. The cost of this expansion, together with the cost of aircraft, will be funded to the extent of 50 per cent by the EC over the period from 1991 to 1994. I am satisfied that these arrangements will significantly enhance the overall efficiency of the fishery surveillance service.
The Minister's reply shows extraordinary complacency about the present position. Every year £150 million worth of Irish fish is plundered by Spanish trawlers. Would the Minister not agree that the EC should be paying a much higher percentage of the cost? At the moment they pay only 50 per cent towards capital costs while we have to pay all the running costs. I am sure the Minister is aware that we get only 5 per cent of the Community catch while we are responsible for 25 per cent of Community policing. Surely we should be getting a lot more funding from the EC. Will the Minister undertake to make further representations to the EC for grants towards the running costs as well as the capital costs?
An EC funding package was approved for member states in November 1989 for the purpose of improving fishery surveillance. It is in accordance with these arrangements that a contract was recently placed for the purchase of the two new aircraft to which I referred. They will be delivered in early 1994, but in the meantime there will be immediate delivery of a CASA aircraft. We have also undertaken a number of very important improvements in the provision of sophisticated data and a satellite communications network which is very effective in the drive against illegal activities. The strength of the Naval Service at the end of March was 990 personnel. We have a very competent and efficient service which has been very effective in enforcing the fishery regulations.
Will the Minister tell the House if it is true that only two of our fishery protection vessels can be in operation at any given time and that there are not sufficient personnel within the Navy to operate all seven vessels together? Secondly, can the Minister say what are the capabilities of the two CASA aircraft to be delivered in June in relation to hauling into Irish ports offending trawlers who are poaching our fish so that they can be prosecuted?
It is that type of misrepresentation that is undermining the work of the fishery protection services. All seven naval vessels are fully operational — they are the Deirdre, the Emer, the Aoife, the Aisling, the Eithne and the two new vessels which were purchased in 1989, the Orla and the Ciara. Those vessels will also have a back-up service from the new CASA aircraft. We will be getting one new CASA in June and not two, lest there be any misunderstanding about that. We have ordered two CASA aircraft which will be ready about 1993-94.
Overall I am satisfied that the service is providing excellent protection. Regarding the point raised by Deputy Garland, the Minister for the Marine recently raised at the EC Council of Fisheries meeting the activities of the Spanish vessels in particular. That matter is being dealt with at Council level by the Minister for the Marine who deals with these matters. I am satisfied that the service is adequate and effective.
Deputy Pat McCartan has been offering.
So have I.
I will call the Deputy. He need not be impatient or offended in any way.
A Cheann Comhairle, I made three efforts on previous questions to make a contribution but was not afforded the opportunity of doing so.
Deputy Ryan, in retrospect, has no complaint against the Chair in respect of being called in this House——
I have, yes.
——and the record will prove that.
Will the Minister accept that the greatest need in the area of fishery protection is for more sea protection vessels? Our craft can do so much in the air but there is need for a sea vessel that can confront and, if necessary, arrest the offending trawler. Accepting that we have seven naval vessels, are there plans to expand that fleet and add to what is the first line of defence of our fishery resources?
I am quite satisfied that the existing fleet is capable of dealing with any breaches of the law, and they have done so very effectively, including arresting four vessels quite recently.
The Spanish trawlers are running rings around us. They are running in and out of our waters.
We have taken very effective measures to control the activities of illegal boats fishing off our coastline. There has been a sizeable number of prosecutions and many convictions obtained. I do not have the details but if the Deputy puts down a separate question I will supply full details of all the successful prosecutions and convictions by the Naval Service in this area. I am quite satisfied that that service, with existing resources, is capable of dealing adequately with this matter. With the back-up of the new surveillance craft the service will certainly be far more effective in pin-pointing these activities and moving quickly to put a stop to them.
May I ask the Minister if any of the seven vessels are out of commission at present for any reason? Secondly, are there any restrictions in relation to the coastal areas they can patrol?
They control the full economic zone which is 200 miles. There is no restriction on their capabilities. They are quite capable of covering the whole economic zone and all the fishing grounds. Naturally, from time to time, for various reasons, ships will have to be in dock for maintenance, refitting, re-equipping or whatever purpose. While all the vessels are fully operational and fully staffed at present naturally there will be occasions when all of them will not be operating at the one time.
How many vessels are on the waters today?
I do not know, but if the Deputy puts down that question I will get the information for him. I assume they are all out or, if not, they are capable of being out.
Would the Minister agree that the present penalties in the event of a successful prosecution are grossly inadequate? From my information the Spanish fishermen regard the fines imposed by the Irish authorities as part of their normal annual running costs. In that event will the Minister say what steps he is taking to increase the penalties?
That is a separate question.
That does not come under my responsibility. However, I can assure the Deputy that heavy fines have been imposed. In many cases conviction means automatic confiscation of gear which is a very heavy penalty. There is no shortage of legislation in that regard, but it is a matter the Deputy should take up with the Minister for the Marine.
