Vol. 562 No. 4
122 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the position with regard to the Irish box and on reports that the EU Commission supports the Government's stance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6249/03]
The European Commission's view, as stated on a number of occasions, is that Regulations 685/95 and 2027/95 remain in place until such time as they are replaced, repealed or found to be in breach of European law by the European Court.
While the Commission has not provided a formal legal opinion, it has indicated that it takes the view that the provisions in relation to the 40vessel limit within the Irish box applied to Spain are discriminatory and may not be enforceable after 31 December 2002, when the period for Spanish accession under the accession treaty expired.
Commissioner Fischler's view is that these elements of the regulations must be revised to remove the discrimination between member states. He states that the non-discriminatory elements in these regulations – effort ceilings, hailing in and out provisions where they relate to western waters but not the Irish box – continue to be enforceable until such time as the regulations are repealed or revised. Commissioner Fischler accepts that there are differing legal opinions on the current legal position in relation to the Irish box. In this regard, I have made Ireland's legal advice, as provided by the Attorney General, available to the Commission and other member states. My advice, which is supported by the legal advice of Portugal, is clear and states that Regulations 685/95 and 2027/95 continue to be in place and have full legal effect.
The Commission presented a proposal in December to replace the current EU regulation in relation to the Irish box. The Commission's proposal eliminates the Irish box and the 40vessel limit at any one time for Spanish vessels. I have opposed this proposal and Ireland and other member states are continuing to discuss the proposal at official level.
The position regarding this issue is confusing. The media, particularly in regard to the fishing industry, seem to have been given the impression from the Minister's Department in the past month or so that the matter was resolved, that the Commission was simply supporting us and that there would be no change. However, it appears the Minister is telling us something different today and that there appears to be an impasse. Is that the case?
The Minister also gave the impression on the last occasion he took questions that the Commissioner had told him to sort out the matter with his counterpart in Spain. To what extent has the Minister done this or is it his intention to negotiate some modus vivendi with the Spanish Government and his Spanish counterpart in order that we can have a resolution of this matter?
I am sure the Minister will agree that the Irish Box is a crucial national resource. It gives us an opportunity to develop the type of conservation based and sustainable policies we spoke about last week with the Minister's colleague when dealing with the Fisheries (Amendment) Bill. It is critical that the Minister gets his act together and tells the fishing industry, particularly the 25,000 families who depend directly on it, once and for all what is the position and that he does not mislead the media.
What the Deputy said probably stems from the fact that he does not pay too much attention to his own brief. The fact of the matter is that no such impression was given by me. I do not know where the Deputy got the impression—
From the fishing industry.
—that the Commission was in any way changing its view and that this was all sorted out. I do not know from where he got that opinion.
The Minister told the fishermen that.
He definitely did not get it from anything I said, nor did the fishing industry. The fact of the matter is, and it could not be any other way, the Commission has tabled a proposal which abolishes the Irish Box and the 40 vessel limit and there is no proposal to compromise that in any way.
The Minister should stop spinning.
As the Deputy may be aware, I had a meeting arranged with Commissioner Fischler in order to press our case again. A number of other countries also have a difficulty with the proposal made by the Commission in this regard, not particularly in relation to the Irish Box but in relation to other issues that are relevant to the proposal. As far as I am concerned, I will be in there fighting our case.
In regard to any bilateral arrangements that might be made, it is the Deputy who has changed his tune; he alleged in an earlier speech in the Dáil that a sweetheart deal was done between myself and the Spanish, but that is not the case. This issue is not something that can be solved bilaterally between Ireland and Spain because it has knock-on effects for all countries which have an interest in the Irish Box and in western waters. If there is to be any compromise on this, it must be done under the aegis of the EU Commission which should have the overall view not only on conservation but on equality among states. I will be relying on the Commission in that respect.
Is the Irish Naval Service under clear instruction to arrest Spanish vessels if more than 40 of them enter the Irish Box? Will the Minister clarify whether that clear instruction has been given to the Irish Naval Service as there is a good deal of confusion on this?
Does the Minister agree that we need to consider a non-discriminatory measure which will control fishing in the Irish Box? The best non-discriminatory measure would be strict conservation measures where boats fishing outside the Irish Box would have different gear and different fishing mechanisms. If we had such strict conservation measures in the Irish Box, it would, in a strange way, discriminate in favour of Irish boats exclusively fishing in that area.
I agree with Deputy Ryan on the issue of conservation measures, which are the type of measures we have been proposing and pushing. Of all EU member states, Ireland has the most conservation measures within our waters. I fully accept that there is a diminishing stock of fish within our waters.
In reply to Deputy Coveney's question, the issue he raised does not arise because, to date, the number of boats there has not exceeded that particular figure.
Either the Irish Naval Service has received such an instruction or it has not. The position is a joke. We are not enforcing the provisions in regard to the Irish Box.
It is just as well the Deputy is not in charge.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
