Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I put it to the Minister that the next 14 days are probably the most important 14 days for the Irish fishing industry in a generation. I ask the Minister to elaborate on the timelines that he believes will be applicable to the actual Brexit issues going forward. It is now 1 December and we are looking at a scenario where an agreement will either be put in place or not in the next 30 days. The Minister will attend the fishing quota negotiations on 15 and 16 December. Does he think that the Brexit negotiations will be completed before he attends those fishing quota negotiations on those dates in order that he can work the issues arising out of Brexit into them or will he have to come back to those issues at a later stage?

On the Common Fisheries Policy itself, and the review that is being undertaken in 2021 and 2022, what are the Minister's initial views on that or are they linked to the Brexit negotiations themselves? In respect of the share of the mackerel quota in Ireland, specifically, where the actual mackerel quota is fished, will that be part of the negotiations or will it be a separate issue that the Minister looks at another time?