Dr. Susan Steele:

I thank Deputy Mac Lochlainn for his contribution and the endorsement of the SFPA as the strongest regulator of fishing. It is not a matter of being either strong or weak but of being effective. I hope that in all our lifetimes we will never see any fish stock collapses. I say that for all of us in the coastal communities and throughout Ireland. The role we play is very important, so I thank the Deputy for the endorsement, although not necessarily as the strongest regulator.

The Deputy raised a couple of issues. The questions he asks were raised in the meeting we had with the industry. That is one of the reasons I asked Dr. O'Mahony to attend with us today. He is the chief scientific officer so he has looked at the detail of this. I will ask him to respond to the Deputy on that.

There is just one thing I wish to raise. Regarding a reset of the relationship with the industry, it is normal for the relationship between an industry and its regulator to be strained at times. The most important thing, however, is that we keep communication going. I assure Deputy Mac Lochlainn and the rest of the committee that we are prioritising that. As Mr. Kinneen said earlier, we are keeping very regular meetings going with producer organisations, industry working groups and any member of the industry who wants to meet with us. We have been prioritising that. It is about trust but, with regulation, and given that in the pelagic fisheries one landing can have a value of €500,000, it is also about having an assurance. As for the development of that assurance, we have put in place a number of measures but have not got it right yet. It is to be hoped that as the new control plan goes forward and as we deal with the Commission, we will get measures that are correct. There are lessons for everybody through this process.

I will hand over to Mr. O'Mahony to talk through the detailed legislative points Deputy Mac Lochlainn has inquired about. I am not sure whether Mr. Kinneen will want to come in after that.