Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether fishing vessels from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have reciprocal access to each other's inshore waters; what representations they have made to that government to restore the provisions of the Voisinage Agreement; whether Northern Irish fishing boats have been recently seized by authorities in the Republic of Ireland; and what assessment they have made of whether the seizure of such vessels constitutes a hard border in the Irish Sea.

The Voisinage Arrangement between the UK and Ireland provides for reciprocal access to fish in the 0-6nm zone. The arrangement has, however, been suspended by Ireland following a decision by the Irish Supreme Court in 2016. As a result, fishing by Northern Irish vessels within Ireland’s 0-6nm zone is currently not permitted.

The UK has continued to respect the arrangement. The Government has made numerous representations to the Irish Government since 2016 to push for the reinstatement of the arrangement as soon as possible. In particular, Defra’s former Minister of State, George Eustice, met Minister Creed, the Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, on 24 March 2018 and wrote to him on 6 June 2018 to reiterate concerns about the suspension of the arrangement by Ireland. The Secretary of State further raised the issue with Minister Creed when they met on 13 June 2018.

On 26 February, two Northern Irish fishing vessels were detained in Dundalk Bay for continuing to fish in the 0-6nm limit of Irish waters while the Voisinage Arrangement is suspended by Ireland. The skippers of the boats appeared in court on 1 March. They have since been released without conviction and the boats returned.

The Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, committed on 1 March to changing the law to restore the status quo to what it was before 2016, and has indicated that he is confident the legislation can be passed quickly. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Minister Creed, has made similar commitments.

The Government is committed to avoiding a hard border and to continue cooperation between Northern Ireland and Ireland over fisheries matters. We welcome the Irish Government’s commitments and stand ready to work with the Irish Government to reinstate a level playing field as quickly as possible for the benefit of all our fishermen.