Vol. 480 No. 3
3 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for the Marine the steps, if any, he will take to achieve the commitment in the Fianna Fáil and Progressive Democrats programme for Government to seek the banning of flags of convenience fishing vessels from Irish waters. [14004/97]
When I met the fishing industry representatives last week, I confirmed my commitment to finding workable solutions to the flagship problem and in particular to mounting, through rigorous enforcement, an effective ban on the illegal activities of all fishing vessels, irrespective of nationality, in our waters.
I intend to pursue the flagship issue from three key strategic perspectives. The first is to ensure that the activities of flagships fishing in our waters are rigorously controlled and monitored at sea and on land. The second is to press, with the support of the commission, other member states concerned to play their part in properly controlling and monitoring the activities and landings of flagships. The third is to work with the commission and likeminded member states in order to ensure the necessary link between the economic benefits of national fish quotas and the coastal communities concerned.
As the coastal State most directly concerned, we are committed to delivering effective enforcement in order to protect fish stocks in our waters from illegal fishing activity. The Government is committed to strengthening the Irish fisheries protection services. Efficient and effective deployment of our existing protection resources, together with enhancing and expanding those resources with EU assistance, is the key priority in tackling illegal fishing activity in these waters, irrespective of nationality.
There are particular enforcement difficulties associated with the activities of flagships. Other member states have legal responsibilities in this regard and I intend to push hard at European level for better practical co-operation between member states on fisheries control and enforcement. Most of the 150 flagships operating in Irish waters are UK registered, so I will be seeking to build on the existing co-operation arrangements with the UK authorities. I will also be pressing the Spanish authorities to improve significantly the policing of landings by flagships into their ports. I will also be pressing the Commission to bring forward new tougher measures of enforcement to ensure that fishermen landing their catch abroad cannot escape controls. I will be meeting my UK and Spanish colleagues, as well as Commissioner Bonino, at the earliest opportunity in order to pursue this agenda.
I strongly support the principle that there should be a demonstrable link between a fishing vessel and the member state in which it is registered, in order to ensure that the economic benefits of national quotas accrue to the fisheriesdependent communities concerned.
The primary problems in Irish waters derive from flagship vessels registered under the UK flag. I will be pressing my UK colleagues to clarify their intentions in relation to enhancing the economic link between UK registered vessels and quotas. Progress on their part would greatly assist our own enforcement and control priorities. For my part, I will also be examining the possibilities, within existing EU treaty frameworks, of strengthening the economic link for vessels operating under the Irish flag.
We are all aware that the economic link issue is a complex one which must have regard for general treaty provisions on right of establishment and freedom of movement as well as the Common Fisheries Policy. The Commission's recent clarification of the legal parameters of economic linkage is a helpful development and is being thoroughly analysed and assessed from the Irish perspective.
Tangible progress on this threefold strategy is the key to delivering workable solutions on flagships and their fishing activities. I will be pushing to keep up the momentum both at EU level and with other member states to deliver on these strategies in the interests of the Irish fishing sector and to secure the viability of fish stocks in our own waters.
I thank the Minister for his reply but he has not answered my question. In the programme for Government he said he would seek the banning of flags of convenience fishing vessels from Irish waters, but his reply has nothing to do with banning such ships. In other words, the Minister is already backtracking on the commitment given in the programme for Government.
Is the Minister aware that everything he has told the House is precisely what I was doing when I was Minister for the Marine? When his party was in Opposition, however, it gave a clear commitment, with the support of one particular fishermen's organisation, to seek the banning of flags of convenience fishing vessels from Irish waters. That is what the Minister told the electorate before the election but how will he ban such ships? What steps is he taking to achieve such a ban? I am well aware of all the controls and other measures that have been taken but how will the Minister proceed to ban flagships from Irish waters, which was the commitment given to the electorate prior to the last election in the programme for Government?
I have outlined the first steps for the Deputy. I have said what we are doing and how we plan to proceed. In the first instance we want to ban the illegal activities of these flagships in our waters. We also want to tie in the flagships to create economic links with the fishing communities, and we want to have tight control of those vessels when they come back into port. We will go as far as we can in seeking to ban the kind of activity they are involved in and I intend to pursue that objective vigorously.
I have already raised the matter with the British Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, since so many of these vessels are registered as British flagships. We will go as far as we can to curb and, if possible, ban their activities.
With respect to the Minister, everything he has just said is precisely what I was doing in the course of my term in office. Is the Minister living up to the commitment he gave to Irish fishermen in the programme for Government to ban such flagships from our waters? Nothing the Minister has said convinces me that he is able to live up to that promise, which people bought prior to the election. We were criticised for precisely the same things the Minister now says he will do. All those things are in place.
Is the Minister aware that the British Government has done nothing other than make noises about these flagships, which are entirely under its own control? The British Government has not assisted in the surveillance of British flag vessels fishing in Irish waters. It should have been doing so for the last few years as I requested of it on a number of occasions. The Minister says he is seeking co-operation from the British Government but he will want to obtain greater co-operation than has been evident to date. It is the British Government's responsibility. These vessels are fishing from British quotas, yet the British authorities have done nothing about it. What precise steps is the Minister taking to ban such flagships from Irish waters? I do not want to know about the controls or the economic links because I am well aware of them. I have already outlined all those things myself. How will the Minister live up to his commitment to ban flagships from Irish waters?
The Deputy raised the question of what the British Government is doing. As I said, I have already met with the British authorities in this connection and they assured me they are anxious to co-operate in this area. The British Government has already secured clarification, by way of an exchange of letters on the margins of the Intergovernmental Conference, which indicated possible parameters for the imposition of economic linkage principles within the bounds of Community law. This is something that may have been available in any event and we are proceeding on the grounds that we can do that anyway.
It is now a matter for the UK authorities to bring forward proposals as to how they intend to implement the economic linkage requirement for these vessels on their register. That is one of the matters we want to discuss with the British and Spanish authorities.
On foot of the Intergovernmental Conference clarification an action was taken by a member state, which must be seen against the last attempt by the UK Government to remove flag vessels from the fishing register. When the UK removed licences from such flag vessels the action was successfully challenged in the European Court by the vessels' owners and that matter is still ongoing.
The British authorities have taken action. We have stated in our policy document that we will seek to ban these flagships and we will certainly do so.
I still have not heard from the Minister how he will seek to ban such flag vessels from Irish waters. I will be asking him that question on a number of occasions in the future. In the course of the conversation with his British counterpart, did the Minister ask what steps he has taken to ensure that in the meantime these vessels sailing under British flags are not exceeding the fish quotas allocated to them?
I raised that issue with the Minister at the end of our meeting on dumping in the Irish Sea. We will have a comprehensive meeting on that issue fairly soon. I pointed out our concerns and told him we would seek his support. I plan to follow that up with a detailed and specific meeting.
That completes priority questions for today. We will now take Question No. 4.
On a point of information, what is the new criteria for taking priority questions? I understood under the old system they became ordinary questions after 20 minutes.
It is only the fourth and fifth questions which are taken as ordinary questions. Priority question time is over; we are now in ordinary question time.
