Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 July 2017
227. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there will be clear and definite derogations for certain situations regarding mussel seed fishing (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31955/17]
View answerThe situation the Deputy refers to relates to the judgment by the Supreme Court on 26 October 2016 in a case taken by a number of mussel seed fishermen. In the judgment, the Supreme Court found that fishing by Northern Ireland boats within the 0 to 6 nautical mile zone of the territorial waters of the State is not permitted by law.
The background to this issue is arrangements which have long been in existence to provide access for fishing. The Voisinage Arrangements are long-standing reciprocal arrangements which allow fishing boats from Northern Ireland access to fish within the 0 to 6 nautical mile zone of the territorial waters of the State and vice versa.
It is important to note that the Supreme Court upheld the High Court finding that the Voisinage Arrangements are not invalid but that, as it stands, there is insufficient provision for them in domestic law. The Supreme Court in fact noted that the arrangements were a sensible recognition at official level of practice and tradition, where fishing boats traditionally fished neighbouring waters.
The application of the judgment is to all fishing by Northern Irish fishing vessels in the 0 to 6 nautical mile zone relying on the Voisinage Arrangements. Fishing activities that have a legal basis are not affected, such as those reliant on the access arrangements to Ireland's 6 to 12 nautical mile zone set out in Regulation (EU) No. 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
The Government approved the publication of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill to address issues raised by the Supreme Court judgment of 27 October 2016. If enacted and commenced, the Bill will give the Voisinage Arrangements a proper legal footing. The Bill was published in February 2017 and is available on the Oireachtas website. The Bill has been debated in the Seanad and now is at Committee Stage there.
While the Bill proposes to restore access to Northern Ireland boats to fish, under the terms of the Voisinage Arrangements, boats that make use of this access are subject to the same rules and conditions that apply to Irish sea-fishing boats. The Bill itself does not apply the specific conditions. Therefore, other parallel associated measures will be required to ensure that rules and conditions in place for Irish sea-fishing boats are appropriately applied to Northern Ireland boats fishing under the Voisinage Arrangements.
The process of identifying which conditions may need to be applied is under way. The conditions will include such restrictions as currently apply to Irish sea-fishing boats. When the necessary measures have been identified, the most appropriate mechanisms for applying them to Northern Ireland boats will be determined. The objective will be for these measures to come into effect at the same time as a commencement order for the Bill.
Together, the Bill and the associated measures will re-establish the status quo for fishing access that existed under the Voisinage Arrangements before the Supreme Court's judgment on 27 October 2016. The only difference will be that the Voisinage Arrangements will be provided for within a legislative framework.
