A succession of short-term licences have been granted since August 2000 for the fishing vessel concerned under section 222B of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act, 1959, as amended. Under this section, the Minister is empowered to grant a fishing vessel licence for any specified time period and under any conditions deemed appropriate and necessary.
The short-term licences have been granted subject to, and pending, the outcome of negotiations with the European Commission on a number of interrelated issues. These centre primarily on Ireland's formal application to be credited with additional fleet capacity and effort to take account of new international fishing opportunities. In that context, the negotiations with the Commission have also focused on the separate requirement to reduce the excess power capacity in the pelagic segment to bring the situation into line with existing MGP targets. It had been envisaged throughout that these negotiations would be completed at a much earlier stage. However, the discussions with the Commission have been technically complex and the process has been very prolonged and, at times, frustrating as a result. As with each of the previous short-term licences, the current licence was issued in anticipation of the negotiations being concluded within the time period of the licence. I am hopeful there will be clos ure shortly. We are keeping in close and regular touch with the Commission with the objective of wrapping up matters without further undue delay.
The vessel is already registered under the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955, on the general register of Irish ships, and I would point out that this of itself is a legal requirement for the vessel concerned. For the process of definitive registry on the Irish register of fishing boats and the EU fishing fleet register to be completed, the matters under negotiation with the Commission need to be finalised satisfactorily. The Commission is fully aware of the status of the vessel and we have made it clear throughout these negotiations that resolution of the matters under discussion is key to completing the licensing and registration process.