Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I thank Deputy Michael Collins for his questions. As regards bluefin tuna, as I said at the outset, I am seeking a bluefin tuna quota at this December's Council meeting and I am putting the argument in relation to the experience with what has evolved with the UK as a strong rationale as to why Ireland should be able to be recognised in that regard. The historic situation was there was not a track record of Ireland catching bluefin tuna back when the quotas were set in the 1990s and not having a track record meant there was not a quota allocated to Ireland at that time. The situation has certainly evolved since then as regards the pattern of fish presence in Irish water and that is something I believe needs to be recognised and taken into account at European level and I will certainly push hard for this.

The Deputy knows, as I do, given his experience in fisheries, how challenging it is to change anything in relation to quota or TACs. It is exceptionally difficult. Bluefin tuna is a valuable fish which is why we are interested and would like some share of it. Likewise, every member state that has a bluefin tuna quote will fight tooth and nail to hold on to what it has. I will certainly make the case strongly on that. We also have an opportunity to ask because there is a new multi-annual management plan for bluefin tuna which was adopted at ICCAT this year and that sets out a key new allocation sharing arrangement for bluefin tuna. That is the position and the backdrop.

I will ask Mr. Rihan to come in on some of the questions around the decommissioning scheme. It is being administered by Bord Iascaigh Mhara in terms of the applications. We are operating the scheme out of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve. Other member states have also proposed decommissioning schemes. My understanding is that the scheme we have come forward with is very attractive compared with what is on offer from other member states as regards the terms and conditions being made available. No more than the Deputy, I would rather see a situation where we did not have a decommissioning scheme and where there was more than enough fish to ensure we had more fish for the boats we have. I would much rather have had, and fought to have, a situation where did not lose any fish in Brexit. We fought very hard to protect our position in that. The unfortunate outcome was that Europe lost quota and of all the EU member states we lost more than others. The Marine Institute's figure and calculation of the impact of that is 15%, which is the figure I use.

Coming out of that I put together the sea fisheries taskforce to bring together the representatives of all our fishers and to consider how we would address the outcome of Brexit first but also to fight hard at European level to try to improve our position on those two fronts. We consistently fight at EU level to improve our position in any way possible. The unanimous recommendation that came from the taskforce from all organisations, and the fisher representatives were part of that, was that there should be a decommissioning scheme to size the fleet to reflect that our quota was less. For those boats that remain in the fleet, the quota freed up from those that are decommissioned is reallocated to them so they have more quota making them more economically sustainable in the time ahead. It is not a decision any fisherman or fisherwoman takes lightly and it is not the situation we want to be in. We absolutely want to have more fish. However, we have to address the situation in terms of where it is at and be very much guided by the fishing representatives themselves. I am responding to the taskforce report, which has come from them and which was unanimous.

Mr. Rihan might take some of the questions on the finer details.