The Government have authorised the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to arrange for the referral of the General Scheme of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill 2020 to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine for pre legislative scrutiny prior to its submission to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel for drafting. 

The main purpose of the proposed legislative amendments is to provide for a points system for masters (skippers) of fishing vessels for serious infringements of the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy, as required by EU Council Regulation 1224/2009. The draft amending legislation would resolve some typographical errors in the Sea-fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 Act of 2006 and introduce other miscellaneous and technical amendments.

The General Scheme has been published on the Department’s website and submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine for pre legislative scrutiny.

ENDS

Date Released: 10 January 2020