Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is important that we emphasise this reset of relationships. As an Oireachtas Member, I am conscious there are other interested parties out there, such as environmental NGOs and a range of people who are interested in the marine. I have been a spokesperson for my own party on fisheries and the marine for about a year and I have engaged extensively, including with the SFPA, to try to get the wider perspectives. I find the situation astonishing and I really want to reiterate this point. The SFPA has increased its budget, increased its staff and increased its capacity over the last number of years. It is not a story of weak regulations and a feckless industry in Ireland. It is actually a story of a very strong and well-resourced regulator and an industry that is the most regulated in Europe and the most compliant. There may well be individuals who are not meeting those standards, and that has to be accepted in all industries. However, I believe that as we speak in 2021, we have a very well-resourced and effective regulator - it is arguably the most effective and strongest regulator in Europe - and an industry that just wants to go out and fish and earn a living. We have got to a point where we need to reset that relationship.

I am going to say again that the recent episode dealt with in the High Court decision is a worrying sign in terms of that relationship between the SFPA and the industry. This is an example from Killybegs, and I can speak now that the court decision has been made. There was an attempt to find a workable arrangement on the weighing of fish. The judges decided that the approach of the State was outside the law, and a legal challenge was undertaken at considerable cost to the State. What was sought to be achieved was a weighing system that was acceptable to the SFPA and the European Commission that would minimise the impact on the quality of fish. It was a very noble objective but, sadly, at a point in time, the SFPA walked away from that process. Again, there is reflection for that organisation and its authority in what happened there.

The industry has to reflect too. I am going to say here that any fisherman around the coast would acknowledge that when there is no oversight and no law - this is the same across the world – and when nobody has eyes upon them, people will take shortcuts. However, I believe that what we have got to in our country right now, and we need to say this out loud, is a very well-resourced and strong regulator when compared to the industry.

I am told by fishermen that what they encounter when they come into Killybegs harbour, which is our major harbour, is unlike anything else in Europe in terms of oversight, regulation, accountability and systems. How is that story being misrepresented and not being told to the national media? How is it that a leaked report, to which the industry has not had a chance to respond or have sight of and that presents it as some sort of mass criminal enterprise, is given to the national media? This deeply untrue and unfair. We have a responsibility as Oireachtas Members, therefore, to stand over the important work the SFPA does but to also not allow our industry, which is heavily regulated and held to account, to be misrepresented in the way it has been.

Do the witnesses agree with my assessment? I do not think they have responded to my point. I believe the SFPA is the most effective and strong regulator in Europe and that our industry is the most regulated in Europe. Is that agreed? Can we get a response to that?