Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Heffernan for taking the time to put his presentation together, come before the committee to deliver it and then answer our questions. I welcome him and his colleagues.

In recent years, all organisations' funding has generally been affected. Regarding the challenges Dr. Heffernan's organisation faces in meeting the service level expected of it, and particularly regarding assistance to meet the targets under the Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth strategy, is the Marine Institute under particular pressures or does the organisation need certain issues addressed to enable it to do the work expected of it - and which it does on an ongoing basis - properly?

Could Dr. Heffernan flesh out the potential implications of Brexit and the considerations we need to take into account regarding the work carried out by the Marine Institute?

A key aspect of the Marine Institute's work is assessing fish stocks and working to monitor them. Could Dr. Heffernan provide an update on how that is working out, the current trends and the likely future trends from the assessment that the Marine Institute has carried out to date?