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

I will summarise it. My understanding is the witnesses' objection is that this weighing system is owned by the industry. It went to court and the judge made a clear decision that the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, is acting ultra viresin how it is dealing with this. Suddenly, the European Commission started to share the authority's concerns. It has been said publicly in many forums that the industry wants this to be taken away from its control and it is happy for it to be controlled independently. I think we would all want that. Why was that not addressed? Why is there another barrier to resolving the problems at Killybegs? Why was that not implemented? It is a damning decision by the judge against the SFPA acting ultra vires, which is very serious. The SFPA has not sought to regularise it, take control of the weighing system, and demonstrate clearly to all concerned parties that it is an independent system. It could demonstrate it is the best regulator in Europe and good at its job, so there is nothing for the European Commission to worry about. It could have CCTV cameras and unannounced inspections, with a level of oversight that is unprecedented in any other industry in Ireland or throughout Europe. That is the level of oversight it has obtained and all it needs to do is to make sure the weighing system is outside the control of the industry. Why did it not resolve those issues rather than having more barriers appear?