Dr. Susan Steele:

It is wonderful to hear the Senator's passion on this issue. As we said earlier in regard to fish stocks, this is for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Everyone in the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority does the job for that reason. We work as regulators, but there is not one person in the organisation who does not have that passion both for the fish and the coastal communities around Ireland. We welcome the Senator's passion.

In regard to having observers on board a vessel, there is a lot work to be done on this issue. The policy needs to work. As regulators, we do not get involved in policy but it needs to be carefully examined and benchmarked with what could work and will work. In regard to the Senator's suggestion of an observer programme, we would be interested in anything that would assist us. Is it the only way of dealing with the high risk in this scenario? No, it is not. There are records on when fish are landed and when they are sold. There is also a last haul size grade analysis and many other things that can be looked at. The assumption here is that the vessels are coming in to work against the Common Fisheries Policy. Perhaps, they are not. All these issues need to be addressed. There is no simple solution. The only cast-iron guarantee we can give the committee is that strategically we are putting significant resources into this area. At the highest levels possible, we are examining the risks and how they can be addressed within the current legislative framework.

In regard to future policy, that is a matter for the committee to raise with policymakers rather than with us. We welcome the Senator's passion on this issue. We are putting resources into this area. I wish I could give him the guarantee he seeks, but unfortunately regulators can never give that. I will ask Mr. O'Mahony and Mr. Kinneen to comment further because I believe they may add value to what I have been saying.