Vol. 562 No. 4
155 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the full circumstances surrounding the grant to the owners of a ship (details supplied) of tonnage of 14,000 tonnes; the cost to the owners of such tonnage; and the position in relation to the 5,200 tonnes attached to its sister ship (details supplied). [6240/03]
The licensing and registration of the Atlantic Dawn was facilitated by a decision of the European Commission, early last year, to grant additional capacity of 14,055 gross tonnes and 14,400 kilowatts in respect of the Irish pelagic fleet segment, to take account of fishing opportunities in Mauritanian and other west African waters. The European Commission's decision followed protracted negotiations with the Commission in relation to a legitimate application by the Atlantic Dawn company, under EU legislation in place at that time, which provided for the introduction of additional capacity into the EU fleet where additional fishing opportunities were identified. As the European Commission accordingly allocated additional capacity over and above the existing EU capacity limits for the Irish fleet, the Atlantic Dawn company was not required to purchase replacement capacity to introduce the Atlantic Dawn.Before granting the additional capacity to allow the Atlantic Dawn to be licensed and registered the European Commission required that an outstanding overcapacity engine power situation in the Irish pelagic fleet segment be resolved. In order to address this long-standing excess capacity problem, which was not caused by the Atlantic Dawn company, the company withdrew the Veronica from the fleet. The pelagic segment was, therefore, brought within EU fleet capacity limits. In the circumstances, the company was allowed to retain the tonnage capacity of the Veronica. However, any transaction or use of this capacity is strictly subject to advance approval and must not conflict with legal or fleet policy obligations. The State has no direct involvement in the cost of tonnage, which is dictated by market forces.
