Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine took the lead in establishing this joint sub-committee, which is a cross-departmental one. We had to pull together the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which is responsible for islands, and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The joint sub-committee was established to cover all the Departments relevant to our focus. As it included islands and inland fisheries, we had to pull in three Oireachtas joint committees representing a cross-section. That is why we were a little slow getting going. We had to try to get the configuration correct. We have been given a huge amount of information.