98.— (1) The following section is inserted after section 5 of the Act of 2003:

“5A.— (1) A sea-fishing boat licence shall not be granted by the licensing authority unless the applicant produces to the licensing authority a tax clearance certificate.

(2) In this section ‘tax clearance certificate’ means a tax clearance certificate issued under section 1095 (inserted by section 127 of the Finance Act 2002) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.”.

(2) This section comes into operation on such day as the Minister may appoint by order. That order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made.