Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

The Minister of State may call on his officials to speak briefly for clarification where a specific or technical point arises and the officials can clarify matters for the committee, so they will have an opportunity to speak and answer questions, but any follow-up questions should be put to the Minister of State because he is the accountable person before the committee. The opening statement from the Minister of State has been forwarded to members and as the time for the discussion is fairly limited, I ask the Minister of State to give a brief synopsis of it of approximately two minutes, then we will proceed to questions and answers.

I formally welcome the Minister of State to the committee. We were eager to have him here. It is an important result for the Irish fishing industry that there is now a committee examining fisheries and maritime affairs and, indeed, a Minister of State with responsibility for these issues.