Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy and acknowledge this is an area in which she has significant background and expertise. We do not have a target at the moment for the marine environment in the context of emissions reductions. The action plan drafting process strongly indicated the marine sector overall could be called on to contribute to the 5.25 megatonne carbon equivalent of annual emissions reduction. It is something we are considering further in the context of the climate action plan and we are carrying out more research on it.

The Deputy is correct. We have a lot more work to do there. Bottom trawling is a key consideration as part of the CFP review. It is a European competence because we all share one another's waters; we fish in British waters and other European waters as well as our own. In fact, one third of the fish we catch is caught in British waters. The key consideration is that we give a full assessment of impact and that we minimise the impact in every way we can. That is considering the tools we can put in place to ensure that fishing is happening sustainably.