In recent weeks much anger and concern have been expressed about fishing by factory super trawlers off the west and north-west coast. This morning there are three factory super trawlers fishing off the Donegal coast. One vessel has a Lithuanian flag, another vessel has a Dutch flag and the third vessel has a German flag. All of the vessels are more than likely owned by a single Dutch company. They have been happily fishing away while small inshore Irish fishing vessels cannot get quota and are not allowed to fish at all. They are forced to stay at home in ports all around Donegal. Everyone in the Irish fishing community knows that the EU stole our fishing stocks when we joined the EU in 1973.

Hear, hear.

Successive Governments have refused to attempt to address that wrong for fear of upsetting the EU. Today, more than 1.1 million tonnes of fish are caught in Irish waters every year and less than 20% of that is caught by Irish fishermen. The Government's only response to the situation is to encourage foreign vessels to land their catch in Irish ports, hoping they can be processed here, rather than trying to undo the wrong that has been done to our fishing communities over many years.

Hear, hear.

Those vessels will not land in Irish ports, they will land in Holland, and the Government's only option is to hope that the Dutch authorities will accurately report what they have caught. Some of this company's vessels have been exposed for fishing illegally in recent years, catching fish to order and falsifying logbooks in order to under-declare their catches. Since January this year there has been a ban on discards for the pelagic fishery, meaning that those vessels can no longer dump fish at sea for which they do not have quota. The Lithuanian factory trawler, MFV Margiris, only has a quota for horse mackerel in Irish waters, yet from talking to fishermen I know that it is practically impossible at this time of year to catch only horse mackerel when fishing off the west coast. One catches mackerel as well at the same time. Either they are dumping the mackerel at sea, which is illegal, or they are processing them on board and keeping them, which is also illegal.

If that was not bad enough, as I speak, a County Donegal fisherman is watching from his home as these vessels tow away his crab pots and take away his livelihood from him and his family. Will the Tánaiste immediately order the Naval Service to intervene to save this fisherman's livelihood and allow him to be able to maintain an income for his family? I have been in contact with the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority and because of the weather conditions off the west coast, it has stated it is unsafe to board these vessels to inspect them at sea. Will the Tánaiste order these vessels to a safe harbour now in order that they can be inspected by Irish authorities?

Hear, hear.

Do not forget the fishermen in Howth.

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, which is the independent regulator responsible for the enforcement of the State's sea-fishery regulations, has been aware, as the Deputy noted, of the European Union-registered Lithuanian-flagged fishing vessel, the Margiris, since it has entered into Irish waters. In keeping with standard practice for all vessels, it is being monitored continuously by the Naval Service. The vessel is operating within the Irish exclusive economic zone. Under the Common Fisheries Policy, any EU vessel can fish in any region's EU waters where it has a quota. This vessel has a quota entitling it to fish for species such as scad horse mackerel within EU waters and it is authorised to conduct fishing activity in this area. As with all vessels, it must record its catches and assess them against quotas in compliance with EU sea-fisheries legislation. The Margiris, and all vessels operating in Irish waters, are monitored continuously by the Naval Service through the fisheries monitoring centre at the naval base in Haulbowline using satellite vessel monitoring, the automatic identification system and the electronic reporting systems. The authority is committed to ensuring that EU quotas are fairly and sustainably managed continuously. This year, with the support of the Naval Service, there has been a prioritisation to implement the new landing obligation by all vessels operating within the Irish zone.

The Tánaiste has not addressed the direct questions I asked of her.

Again.

As I speak, these vessels are destroying the livelihood of an Irish fisherman from County Donegal, who depends on the gear he has at sea to try to feed his family and keep his vessel going. It would be a simple matter for the Government to tell the Naval Service to intervene with that vessel and to stop it from destroying the livelihoods of Irish fishermen. This is happening as I speak. The fisherman in question has tried to contact these vessels by radio to inform them that they are towing through his gear but they will not take his call and will not respond to him.

Call in the navy.

It does no good for Naval Service personnel to be sitting in Haulbowline watching a computer screen showing these vessels.

Hear, hear.

The Naval Service should be out there now intercepting these vessels to protect fishermen's livelihoods. The response simply is not good enough and this issue must be addressed urgently.

In addition, the online pressure group, Uplift, has created a petition with more than 30,000 signatories condemning the actions of such supertrawlers off the Irish coast. All along the coast, fishermen are sickened because they must sit at home and watch these vessels continue to fish in front of their homes while the Government is standing idly by and is allowing this to happen. Last summer, a Danish vessel in the Irish Sea had penalty points imposed on it by that highly effective agency, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority. However, the Danish Government refused to add those penalty points to the vessel's licence.

Scandalous.

It ignored completely the Common Fisheries Policy rules in a flagrant breach and yet Ireland does nothing. The Government continues to allow this to happen. Will the Government today protect Irish fishermen by ensuring these vessels are held to account for towing away the gear of this County Donegal fishermen?

These issues obviously are extremely important to the fishing community around the coast and, as I stated, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority is the independent regulator responsible for the enforcement of the State's sea-fisheries regulation. I told the Deputy that the vessel to which he referred, and any other vessels involved, are being monitored continuously by the Naval Service. In addition, basic regulation changes to fisheries policy involving access or restriction to fishing opportunities come within the sole competency of the European Union. I will take the Deputy's concerns to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, who, as the Deputy is aware, is extremely active on these issues with the Commission and various other EU agencies. However, only the EU Commission can propose changes and any such proposal must be adopted-----

The Tánaiste has missed the point. It is time for action.

-----under the co-decision process of the European Parliament and the EU Council.

Bring in the navy and tell them to stop.

Please.

It is simple.

When will the Government stand up to the EU?

Consequently, member states affected and stakeholders-----

Where is AK47 now?

-----can bring in non-discriminatory measures for the conservation and management of fish stocks within the 12-mile zone, subject to compliance with policy.

Bring in AK47.

Send in a carrier.

He bottled out of appearing on Vincent Browne's programme as well.

Quiet please.

However, access to this is set down in the regulation and it cannot be changed by an individual member state.

What the Government can do is to protect Irish fishermen. The Tánaiste will wash her hands of them.

What I will do is raise the Deputy's concerns - I acknowledge he has raised them already - with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The Government is not going to do anything about it. It cannot, or will not, do anything.

As the Deputy is aware, detailed talks are due to take place next month-----

Will the Government stop raising its eyes to heaven and do something about it?

Deputy Mathews is an expert now.

-----and the Minister will raise these issues with the EU Commission, because in terms of regulation and in terms of authority, these matters must be agreed.

The Government is raising its eyes to heaven again.

Please.

I would like to be able to tell the Deputy that EU Commission rules literally have no effect in Ireland-----

They are not working; send in the navy.

When will we stand up to the EU? The Dutch can do it.

-----and that we can ignore them but in fact, we must go back to the Commission.

Action, not words.

The Government must talk to it about how best to protect local fishermen, as the Deputy suggests-----

It will tell us how high to jump.

A family's livelihood is being destroyed right now, as the Tánaiste speaks.

-----as opposed to the supertrawlers to which he referred.

This is a real phoney war.

Do Members ever get Leaders' answers?