Mr. Alex Crowley:

I will answer Deputy McConalogue's question, since I think it was directed to me.

I understand that the implications for fishermen from the Republic of Ireland engaged in inshore fishing near Northern Ireland have been very severe, and they have basically been stopped from fishing. I have talked to my colleagues from right around the coast about this. I have been told about young men with families who have been told they cannot go fishing any more. That is serious and I do not think any genuine operator within the inshore sector, whether registered in the North or South, wants to see that happen to anybody.

On the lack of sympathy, to put it in real terms, in the north of the country, there could be a situation where there could be two inshore fishermen fishing from the same pier. They might be good friends and both may have paid for the right to go fishing and the right for replacement capacity to get a licence. One has probably paid a multiple of what the other paid, because the person who registered in Northern Ireland had a different price. That leads to resentment. It is a trait of human nature, and maybe it is not one of the prettiest traits we have.

It comes down to the lack of consultation. One would think, in an ideal world, that if we had consultation, we could come to a newer, up-to-date arrangement that would address everybody's concerns, if Brexit allowed that to happen. We are talking about an arrangement made in the 1960s and we live in a very different world. Much of this is my own opinion, but I would like to see an arrangement that would be favourable for everybody. With consultation and under the constraints of whatever Brexit is going to bring, one would like to think that might be possible.