Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With regard to Brexit negotiations and the number of UK vessels that will be leaving EU waters after 1 January, our position is that we want the existing situation to continue with regard to quota share and access to waters. That is obviously being contested in the negotiations at the moment. Access to UK waters is very important for our fishermen.

Many of our catches, particularly the more valuable catches, are caught in those areas, so that reciprocal access arrangement is key, and is something that we will be seeking to achieve, so that there are no vessels being put out of either our waters or the British waters. It is certainly something that we will continue to hold to and we hope to have reached a positive outcome on the issue.

On the issue of bluefin tuna, I think I mentioned it earlier on in relation to my response to Deputy Mac Lochlainn. The Common Fisheries Policy will be renegotiated next year and the year after, and as things stand, the bluefin tuna quota is based on historical catches among member states and other international partners, and that is the current position. Obviously any such long-standing positions are very difficult to change and require discussions on the Common Fisheries Policy, which will be up for review in 2012-22.

On the issue of the inshore fisheries sector, the Deputy’s part of the country is like my own in its profile and that of inshore fishing and the value that it provides to coastal communities in particular. Certainly, the sector is something of which I am very conscious. The EU support regulation for the next European Maritime and Fisheries Fund is currently being negotiated and is yet to be agreed. Funding secured under that regulation would form the programme for the next seven years, so in respect of ongoing engagement with stakeholders at European level in relation to the new regulation, it is something that I will keep in mind as Minister.