Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the Dáil earlier, the Deputy said he did not support the report but just now he said there is only one part he does not support. It was given very strong consideration by all fisheries stakeholders and all of them came together to fully sign off on that report. We should all reflect on the different measures. Undoubtedly, it is not a position any of us wanted to see ourselves in, but it is a position that we all have to show leadership on. Particularly, those fisher representatives show leadership in looking at the difficult challenges that are there and are best advising myself, as Minister, and the Government in how we can proceed and support the industry going forward.

We do not have a national quota for bluefin tuna. The available bluefin tuna quota has been allocated each year to member states on the basis of relative stability since the late 1990s. It is something that fishers have raised with me continuously. It is obviously something I will push for as part of the Common Fisheries Policy policy review. However, it is not something we have had a track record on in the past . That is the challenge, and I will certainly be leading on it and doing all I can in the context of the review.