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Foyle and Carlingford Fisheries (Northern Ireland) Order 2007

I thank the Minister for making his Bill team available to me this morning. I had a useful discussion with them. In principle, I support the order. It is a necessary step forward. Foyle and Carlingford are important inland waterways—well, they are not really inland waterways, but sheltered waterways. Fishing, fish farms and so on should be protected. The legislation for that urgently needed updating, and by and large this order does the job pretty well. My concern would be the definition; where the lines are drawn on the map, or on the charts, for British waters as opposed to Irish waters. I understand that this is the responsibility of a cross-border body, but we need assurance that the Republic is legislating in line with us and will be as active in policing the new legislation because, unless both sides of the border are going to work together, it is a waste of time one going it alone. I would like some real assurance that the Republic is as enthusiastic about this as we are, is passing similar legislation and will police it strongly and diligently. Otherwise, I support the order.