Mr. Seán O'Donoghue:

I thank the Chairman very much for the opportunity to be present. I would like to reiterate what he said about a good friend and colleague in Hugo Boyle. I thank him for doing that. He was a good friend and colleague to all of us.

In terms of the question that was asked about the task force, we obviously welcome it but there are two things I am concerned about. The first is that it could become a talking shop and the second is that it could delay us from the immediate action we could take here.

I did not hear all of the Minister's presentation but, as I see it, we need to take up the burden-sharing immediately. That cannot mean waiting for a task force to make such decisions. The task force should examine matters such as those Deputy Mac Lochlainn outlined to the Minister, namely, the issues with relative stability and the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, review. I think they would be long-term issues rather than short-term ones. When I talk about the short term, I am talking about addressing the burden-sharing in the next two months rather than next year.

I will leave the questions on scallops and processors to my colleagues in the IS&EFPO, given that we are not directly involved in the scallop fishery. I hope I have answered the Deputy's question on the task force.