Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) (Amendment) Regulations 2009

My Lords, when I first received a note from the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, I was quite cross as, having been a woman at sea—not a brother, younger or older—and having had a fishing fleet of my own, I too queried why we should pay somebody else’s dues. However, if you sit in this House long enough and listen for long enough, you hear all sorts of explanations that make things seem much clearer. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, for bringing forward this Motion of Regret as it has enabled me to refresh my memory about why safety at sea matters so much. As a good, free-born English woman, I hate the idea of having to subsidise the Irish for something they should be paying for themselves. That is the way one feels when one does not hear all the facts. The truth of the matter is that it is not a great deal of money but whether it is a penny, a pound or a million pounds I am still not sure that I like the idea of having this continue to happen to us. I read that in 2004 Alistair Darling said that he would do something about it. That was reinforced by the Permanent Under-Secretary of State saying that he would do something about it. All I can assume is that the two Governments are still nattering and talking to each other and we shall not find out today how far they have got. I thank everyone who has clarified this matter for me. I also thank the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, for making this debate possible. I wish the Minister great happiness on the Front Bench. He could not start his Front-Bench career with a better subject than this.