Vol. 557 No. 4
70 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the matters discussed and conclusions reached at his meeting with the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries on 11 November 2002, particularly in regard to the protection of the integrity of the Irish Box fishing zone; the legal case which was made to the Commissioner for the retention of the 50 mile Irish zone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22619/02]
71 Mr. Coveney asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the steps he is taking to ensure the retention of restrictions on Spanish fishing vessels entering the Irish Box as part of his preparations for the Common Fisheries Policy negotiations. [22618/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 70 and 71 together.
The retention of the current restrictions for access to the Irish Box is a top priority for the Government in the negotiations on the Common Fisheries Policy. Legal opinion received from the Council legal services at the end of October advised that the arrangement governing access to waters and resources in western waters and the Irish Box provided for in Council regulations would cease to have legal effect on 31 December 2002.
The legal framework governing access was a difficult political compromise agreed in the context of the full integration of Spain and Portugal into the Common Fisheries Policy. The provisions which govern conservation in the Irish Box should continue after the end of 2002. It is clear that the Commission has been of the same opinion in so far as it did not envisage an end to the western waters regime in its Green Paper on CFP reform or in the proposals for reform introduced in May 2002.
This legal opinion is incomplete and flawed. My legal advice is that the regimes in place for the Irish Box and western waters do not expire and I have forwarded legal arguments to support this contention to the Commission and Council. Over the coming weeks, I will be highlighting the differing interpretation of the legal position to the Commissioner, the Presidency and my ministerial colleagues in Europe.
Since the legal advice from the Council legal services became available, apart from meetings at official level, I have met the Portuguese Minister for Fisheries, who shares some common ground with Ireland on this issue, and the Danish Minister for Fisheries, who currently holds the Presidency of the Council for Agriculture and Fisheries. I also had a meeting with EU Commission officials, including director general, Jorgen Holmquist, and I held a bilateral meeting last week with Franz Fischler, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries, involving the Irish fishing industry. At the meeting, Ireland's case that the waters within the Irish Box are very sensitive and play an important role as nursery grounds for stocks in western waters and beyond was made strongly. The need to maintain and enhance the current restrictive regime, which is fully justified on the grounds of conservation and rational exploitation of fish stocks, was strongly emphasised.
Commissioner Fischler stated that the Commission is seeking a way of preserving fish stocks and preventing the increase of fishing effort in the Irish Box that treats all member states in an equal way. However, the Commissioner considers that the rules currently governing the Irish Box, which relate to the 40-vessel limit for Spain, are discriminatory and must be changed from the 1 January 2003.
I have serious concerns about this approach in so far as the current 40-vessel restriction for Spain is an effective instrument for conservation and must be retained. My legal advice does not support the Commissioner's contention that the present regime is discriminatory. I consider that the Irish Box regime was a political compromise agreed after intensive negotiations over a three year period in the mid-1990s. It is not acceptable that we walk away from these arrangements on the basis of a legal opinion that would not have the confidence of the main players in these arrangements.
I will continue in the coming weeks to work vigorously to have Ireland's position on this issue fully understood by my colleagues at Council and by Commissioner Fischler, both from a legal and political perspective. It is crucial that Council be fully informed of the consequences for fish stocks and for fishing communities around Ireland dependent on fishing of any change in this regime that would increase access or fishing effort within the Irish Box.
I thank the Minister for his answer. It is good to be back on this side of the House shadowing him again. I wish I was in his seat.
It appears the Minister was mugged by the Minister for Finance in that his Department's Estimate seems to have been utterly shattered, falling by 15% and by over 50% in areas such as coastal protection. Maybe we will return to that issue later.
I was at the press conference with Franz Fischler. I was devastated and stunned by what he told us. He said our fishermen on the western, eastern and southern coasts were in for some difficult times. He said there would be much hardship for the fishermen of Ireland. That was his fundamental judgment on the future of our box on the west coast and on proposals in respect of the cod and white fleet fisheries.
Does the Minister agree with the comments of Commissioner Fischler that our coastal communities from Howth to Castletownbere and up to Killybegs are in for some devastating times as a result, perhaps, of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources taking its eye off the ball? Is the Minister prepared to publish the legal advice he took to the meeting with Franz Fischler so we can see its impact?
I commend the Minister for meeting the Portuguese and securing their support. He said he had secured the support of six states, including, ironically, Spain. Does he consider that his diplomatic efforts over the coming months will be successful, given that the huge Spanish fleet off the west coast has never had any interest in the conservation of Irish fish stocks or in the welfare of Irish coastal communities?
The Minister said the key decision affecting this issue was taken in the 1970s and 1980s and was political rather than legal. Does he intend to pursue the valuable recommendations of the previous Government's strategy review group, chaired by the distinguished former public servant, Mr. Padraic White, on the extension of coastal zones, the use of flags of convenience and so on? Will he indicate whether the recommendations on conservation and the protection of the boxes made by fishermen over the past four or five years will be acted on?
Since 1997 there has been a huge increase in the Estimates. For example, since 1996 the allocation to forestry has increased by 251% while the increase for telecommunications over the past three years has increased by 7,500%, from €400,000 in 2000 to €36 million this year. Funding for the Marine Research Institute has increased by 250% over the past five years while the allocation to BIM has increased from €10 million to €25 million.
I agree with Deputy Broughan's comments on the strategy review group chaired by Padraic White, who I will meet later today. The group's report is concise and clear. It has been used by my officials and has been raised with Commission officials on any occasion we have met to consider this issue.
Commissioner Fischler referred to pain and hardship that may be suffered in the future. This will apply to all fishermen across Europe, not only in Ireland. Fishermen in this and other countries have taken a very positive approach to the issue of conservation and they are aware of the implications of dwindling stocks. That is why we strongly argued that it is not possible on the one hand to have open season on the Irish Box while on the other hand being opposed to overfishing. The Commission has acknowledged this.
This issue was brought to a head because Spain requested a legal services opinion. We disagree with it and have put forward a counter argument. That will be discussed next week at the Council of Fisheries Ministers and again next month.
Will the Minister publish the legal opinion?
We are unable to publish a legal opinion of the Attorneys General but it is available to the Commission and the Presidency of the Council, in this instance the Danish Minister. Ireland is part of a group of states which are of like mind in their approach to a number of issues, especially the proposed reduction in fleet numbers. Spain, Portugal and France are our main allies in that regard. However, we cannot agree on every issue. For example, on the question of the Irish Box we vehemently disagree with the Spanish. The Portuguese are allied with us and it should also be noted that the EU Commission insists that the effect of laws should not be discriminatory. The agreement made in the middle 1990s to deal with the consequences of the accession of Spain and Portugal and their dealings on the CFP is political rather than legal in content. It has no time limit and as far as we were concerned this was until very recently understood by the Commission.
Politicians cannot decide what or who is legally correct. In view of this, will the Minister indicate how he proposes to get legal clarity before the negotiations begin? Otherwise, the restrictions within the Irish Box will be used as a bargaining tool. It could mean that we will have to make concessions in our negotiations with other countries to secure what we want on the question of the box. Will the Minister indicate whether, before the political wrangling begins, it is his intention to get definitive legal clarification on the Spanish objective to use the Irish Box?
Will he also indicate what kind of signal he considers is being sent to fishermen by the proposed cuts in funding, including a 12% reduction in the funding to BMI, a 31% cut in grant aid to fish processing and a cut of 3% in funding for the development of fisheries harbours? Will he also indicate whether he obtained assurances from Commissioner Fischler on the question of the Hague preferences, whereby Ireland and the United Kingdom can be allocated extra quota when TACs are not fully met in Europe as a whole?
Commissioner Fischler was positive on the question of the Hague preferences. He wants them codified as part of European Union legislation. The issue to be addressed is what is understood by the preferences. Time is running short and there is a desire by all the member states to have the question of the Common Fisheries Policy finalised before the end of December. That is probably optimistic. It is not the case that the Irish Box will be given up as a quid pro quo in any negotiations. The Commission has always taken the view that the question of general access to waters around the European Union will be considered within the context of a review in 2003 and 2004, not under the current review.
On the question of the Estimates, I remind the Deputy that in 1997, when his party was last in Government—
That does not address the position today.
The Minister is acting as archivist again.
The rainbow Government allocated €3.497 million to the development of fishery harbours. This year we will allocate €30 million, similar to the sum allocated in each of the past two years. Since we took up office in 1997 there has been a cumulative increase of 758% in the funding allocated to this area. I rest my case.
There is a reduction in the allocation for the coming year.
The Deputy knows well that I have a long memory and am always able to produce the 1997 figures to remind people where we have come from.
Where were we last year and where are we now?
That is banned.
