Dr. Susan Steele:

I thank the Chair. I think I have notes on all of the questions apart from the fourteenth question. I thank Deputy Collins for the invitation to come back so quickly. I am aware of the issues in the fishing industry. I welcome the opportunity to speak to the committee and address some of the questions. Deputy Collins mentioned that he was going to write to the SFPA. The SFPA would like to extend an invitation to him, as we are based in Clonakilty not far from the Deputy. He will always be welcome. We prioritise meetings with Members of the Oireachtas and the fishing industry. We are very happy to attend those meetings.

If I miss questions, I apologise. We will come back to the Deputy in writing. We are happy to go through a number of the questions. Starting with the control plan, and the draft control plan, when the SFPA was responding to the 2018 and the following on administrative inquiry, as part of that work there were draft control plans. They were for discussion with the Commission rather than a control plan that was being submitted.

One question was about how a control plan is submitted. The key thing is that the control plan is submitted through the SFPA. We have discussed this, and this was what happened previously in 2012. It is absolutely essential for Ireland that we have a new control plan. Following the revocation of the control plan, the SFPA prioritised working with the industry to bring into compliance its situation of weighing at landing and then working on control plan submission.

Initially the SFPA drafted and went for public consultation, which ended on 18 June 2021, for a control plan that covered all demersal landings and excluded pelagic landings. The decision to consult without pelagic landings was undertaken, as they are the risk scenario singled out for enhanced controls with the Commission implementing regulation. The intention was to submit the control plan in order to deal with the current issues which are being experienced by the demersal fishers with weighing prior to transport. However, following the consultation process and consideration of the submissions to the consultation process, the authority decided that the greater than ten-tonne boat pelagic landings will be included in the control plan.

The SFPA is prioritising the development of a revised plan that acknowledges the specific risks that have been identified and led to the Commission's decision to revoke the previous plan and provide enhanced controls. This will not be fast, however. The commission and the Ireland desk are going to work with us on the reviews, and we will be working closely with them to ensure the plan provides the assurances they require to minimise the risk of systematic manipulation of weighing pelagic catches in Ireland, and under-declaration of catches by operators that are highlighted in the decision to revoke the plan.

The SFPA is prioritising this and aims for a submission as soon as possible. The Commission review time will be a minimum of ten weeks following the submission of the documents. As the Deputy said, the SFPA is looking at the pelagic fishery and the ongoing fisheries for the demersal without a control plan. There is a pelagic working group working with the SFPA to look at the practicalities going forward. That is in answer to the first question.

Regarding the administrative inquiry, and the questions on who was informed and with whom the information was shared, as the SFPA went to the administrative inquiry, the correspondence from the Commission was with Ireland, not with the SFPA. The Department and the Minister were aware of the status of the administrative inquiry. The responses to the administrative inquiry have also been sent to the Department.

We informed the industry in consultative committee and other meetings that we were meeting with them and there were significant concerns being raised as part of the administrative inquiry and of the audit. Those are in response to the Deputy's questions Nos. 1 to 5. With regard to the sharing of the audit and the audit findings, we have put it in our opening statement and said it the last time we were in front of the committee. We always have it formally on record we believe it would be of benefit for all EU member states' audits to be public. This happens in other areas in the Commission but not in the Directorate General, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, DG MARE. That is written into the opening statement and I reiterate it here. However, we will follow in with the Commission on this and the responses and the audit from the commission is its material so we will not be sharing it until the commission does.

Before I move on to other questions, I think I have taken Nos. 1 to 7 there, I am not sure if Mr. Kinneen or Mr. O'Mahony have anything they want to add in there.