Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 November 2018
112. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if there is a plan to define a boundary for the territorial seas of Ireland; his plans to provide for that boundary in legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49149/18]
View answerUnder the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea the sovereignty of a coastal state extends beyond its land territory to the adjacent band of water and to the seabed and subsoil beneath it. This band is called the territorial sea and, under the Convention, may extend to a maximum breadth of 12 nautical miles. The Convention provides that where the coasts of two states are opposite or adjacent to each other, neither of the two is entitled to extend its territorial sea beyond the median line between them, unless they otherwise agree.
In domestic law the State’s territorial sea is defined by Part 3 of 2006 Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act, which gives effect to relevant rules established by the 1982 Convention.
