Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. In terms of the national statutory instrument, it is not within the competence of Ireland, as a member state, to provide ourselves with our own derogation from the control plan. The regulations around this are set by the European Commission and, under the Common Fisheries Policy, there is an obligation on each member state, through the relevant competent authorities, in our case the SFPA, to apply those regulations. We are legally obliged to comply with them under the Common Fisheries Policy and every member state must do the same.

The control plan was put in place in 2012 and, from that point on, under a derogation within it, the control plan provided for weighing in-factory as opposed to weighing at-pier, and this was approved by the Commission. Now that the Commission has revoked that control plan, we default to the default scenario of having to apply the regulations without derogations under a national control plan. Without a new control plan being put in place and agreed by the Commission, we have to apply the rules as they stand and the Common Fisheries Policy regulations as they stand. There will have to be engagement with the Commission in terms of moving forward with a new control plan, and I know the SFPA outlined the process involved in that when it met with the committee on Tuesday.

In regard to the PwC report, we have discussed on a number of occasions the organisational challenges within the SFPA, the steps that were taken in terms of the conducting of that PwC report and how the organisation can reform itself and deal with some of the issues that were identified in the report. There are many key recommendations within that and there is an implementation committee and an advisory committee which are working with the SFPA in regard to implementing that. It has also brought on board a new member of staff to assist with the implementation of that report.

In regard to the recent appointment of the head of the SFPA to a role in the European authority, that was an open competition and is a reflection on the person's capacity to win through that open competition. The Deputy mentioned the audit and the administrative inquiry. That proceeded throughout 2018 and then into 2019, and resulted in the European Commission completing the administrative inquiry and notifying us before Christmas, which was a separate matter entirely. I wish Dr. Steele well on her recent appointment. It is obviously a reflection on her ability that she came through that public appointment process.