I propose to take Questions Nos. 579 and 584 together.
As I have advised before, fisheries is, and will remain, a high priority for Ireland in the Brexit negotiations. I am determined to ensure that fisheries remain high on the Brexit agenda in the EU and that the interests of Ireland's fishing communities are fully safeguarded.
The London Fisheries Convention deals primarily with the right of a number of countries to fish in each other's 6 to 12 mile fishing zones based on historic fishing activity. Most of these rights were later incorporated into and superseded by the Common Fisheries Policy. The UK announced its intention to withdraw from the 1964 London Fisheries Convention last June, which is a process which takes two years. Under the Convention, the Irish fishing fleet has access to parts of the UK 6-12 mile zone while the UK fleet has access to parts of the Irish 6 - 12 miles zone. The Irish fleet is not significantly dependant on this limited access. We do however catch significant quantities of fish in UK waters outside of the 12 mile zone.
In addition, the Voisinage arrangements are long-standing reciprocal arrangements which have allowed 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. On the basis of the provisions of Articles 2 and 9 of the London Fisheries Convention, pre-existing reciprocal arrangements were re-affirmed at the time by means of an exchange of letters in the 1960s between the UK/Northern Ireland and Ireland. The Common Fisheries Policy (Article 5 of Regulation 1380/2013) provides for the continuation of such neighbourhood arrangements.
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 boats in the 0 to 6 nautical mile zone, measured from the baselines, relying on the Voisinage arrangements. The Government approved the publication of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill to address issues raised by the Supreme Court judgment, in so far as it relates to access for Northern Irish vessels. 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 commenced debate in the Seanad. In the meantime, access continues to be provided for Irish sea-fishing boats to the Northern Ireland 0 to 6 nautical mile zone, although the UK has expressed concerns about the unequal situation which currently prevails.
My continued objective is to ensure that the implications for fisheries are fully taken account of in the establishment of the framework for a future EU-UK relationship. The key priorities of Ireland and the EU 27 in this regard will be maintenance of current access to fishing grounds in the UK zone in the Irish Sea, Celtic Sea and north of Donegal including the 6 -12 mile zones covered in both the LFC and the CFP and protection of Ireland’s existing quota shares.
In conclusion, I would like to reassure the Deputy that, working together with the Group of 8 Member States whose fisheries are directly impacted by Brexit and the Barnier Task Force, I will strive to keep fisheries inextricably linked to the overall future relationship negotiations in order that all of our existing access rights and quota entitlements are fully protected.
