Accusations that the Naval Service was "over-policing" the Irish fishing fleet rather than other EU fleets, were raised in the Dáil yesterday. Mr Denis O'Donovan (FF, Cork South-West) said he had been told that there was a "bias" to police the Irish fleet.
The Naval base was at Haulbowline, Co Cork, and so it was "much easier to target vessels off the south and west coast". The Fianna Fáil TD said he had hoped this was an exaggeration, that it was "untrue and unfair", but statistics showed otherwise.
He was speaking during the end of the second stage debate on the Irish Fisheries Amendment Bill, which introduces a new fishing vessels licensing system and ratifies a UN agreement on the conservation of fishing stocks.
Mr O'Donovan said that figures for the past two or three years show "that the number of Irish vessels being brought ashore for illegal fishing is substantial and that few, if any, of the Spanish fleet were brought in".
He was concerned about this and "would like equal treatment to be given to all. Our small Naval Service fleet should patrol the Irish box and ensure that any foreign vessels over the 40-foot allowed under EU law are not allowed to fish."
He was concerned there was little supervision by EU officials to monitor Spanish fish stocks and fish sizes when they docked in Spain. The deputy warned that "if Europe is serious about conserving fish stocks", then the "Irish Box" should be maintained.
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