Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I did say that it did not just happen on the Minister’s watch; it happened under the watch of Fianna Fáil Ministers as well.

I have no problem saying that, but that is the crux of the problem facing the sector. We should have a discussion about that in the future. It may not be directly linked to the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, but it is the only issue of relevance to the fishermen.

I acknowledge the painstaking work done on the Hague preferences and also what was achieved, but if the proper quota allocation was available we would not need the Hague Preference at the end of each year or be required to seek additional transfers every December.

A vote has been called in the Seanad and I must leave shortly, but how will the ending of discards work in practice in light of the discard ban for pelagic stocks, which comes into effect in January 2015? What discussions have taken place with the industry, and will a period of flexibility be allowed or will the ban be introduced from 1 January 2015? The Minister referred to funding, but will new mesh size be part of the solution also?

This is not a political castigation, but I have met with fishermen and fishing organisations in various parts of the country and their unilateral view, particularly the organisations representing the smaller fishermen and women, is that there was a total lack of consultation and meetings in the lead-up to the CFP review. They feel somewhat isolated in that their views were not taken into consideration in the overall context. I know the Minister has been extremely busy with the review of the Common Agricultural Policy, the review of the CFP and hosting the Irish Presidency but, none the less, the fishermen believe there was a lack of consultation. In agriculture, which is the other part of the Minister's brief, solid consultation with farmers took place, and they would acknowledge that. However, there was a lack of consultation on the fishing side.

On the transfer of quota, I very much welcome that the scientific and technical committees, STCs, are gone. Going down that road was a no-brainer. What is the Minister's view on the transferring of quota between countries? For example, Spain may transfer to France or vice versaon a stock that may be less important to one country over another. What is the Minister's view on the prevalence of that and whether that quota should go back into a centralised pot on a Europe-wide scale, which could be redistributed to other member states? Did discussions take place on that or is it an issue that could be examined within the framework of the CFP?