Mr. Fintan Kelly:

I am not used to this format but I will try to remember all the questions members asked. Deputy Penrose made a statement relating to the old approach, that is, the highly political approach to negotiations. He used the term, "bringing home the bacon", which is still the predominant approach as far as I can see. Member states, the European Parliament and the Commission collectively worked through CFP reform. There was overwhelming public pressure from EU citizens to see an end to overfishing. The 2015 deadline and the final 2020 deadline to end overfishing were set.

As a result of that initial public pressure, there was an improvement in the situation, with a lower level of overfishing in 2012. Directly after the CFP was agreed, however, there was an increase in the level of overfishing, although this has come down to below the 2012 figures in the past two years. That reflects the role the public played in 2012, the pressure that was put on decision makers to end overfishing and the subsequent fall back into past behaviour. The Minister felt under pressure to deliver the quota for the industry and was probably under pressure from other political parties if he did not deliver that, which was definitely one of the driving factors.