Mr. Brendan Byrne:

That is a very pertinent question. Deputy Mac Lochlainn is 100% right; the third countries he alluded to - Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands - have been consistently overfishing mackerel by 155%. They take 55% more than they are entitled to. They have reduced that to 45% more than they are entitled to. The consequences of that for Ireland are dire. Mackerel is the second most valuable stock we have. It used to be the most valuable stock we had until the TCA transfers. The reckless behaviour of those countries in overfishing beyond their entitlement and beyond scientific advice will have consequences. We await in the next two weeks the scientific advice for the year ahead for mackerel. We are fearful of that. Not alone that, but those of us who work within the rules and are compliant with control and enforcement rules and regulations - Ireland is the gold standard in that at European level – compete with countries that fish 45% and 55% beyond their entitlement. That is eroding our position in the global markets. That has been the case for the past three years. That is the climate we compete in. At the same time, we are members of a European Union that openly trades with Norway and gives it unrestricted access for their salmon into the European markets. We have to see that happen at the same time that its actions are undermining the Irish fleet. That is very difficult for us as representatives of the fishing industry to stomach. It is where we as a member state need to bang the drum and challenge the European institutions. We either all work by the rules, or there are no rules. It is not anything beyond that; those are the facts of the matter.

Deputy Mac Lochlainn is 100% right; Europe is weak on key elements. To give access to countries that fragrantly and blatantly overfish is wrong, and it has to be called out. We are currently engaged in the coastal state process. I want to make apologies for Aodh O'Donnell of the IFPO, Dominic Rihan of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation and Patrick Murphy from the Irish South & West Fish Producers Organisation, who are currently in London at the coastal state talks, which are running in parallel with this.

Europe needs to take a stronger stance. The competency of fishing lies with the Commission, as I said earlier. However, we are part of the European Union and we need to strengthen. To go back to the second part of the Deputy’s question, as I alluded to earlier, for too long we have been too weak in Europe. If Europe has the competency for fishing policy, and it has, we need to be in there, front and centre, strong and united. That is something we need to focus on, particularly as we run into the Presidency of the European Union. We need to get there, particularly if this evaluation goes on to a Common Fisheries Policy review. We discussed a review and how it will present opportunities, and that is correct, but are we ready to take those opportunities? Do we have the wherewithal to shape where the decision-making is taking place? I seriously doubt it.

This committee, which I fully support, has a massive role to play. The fact that we have a new dedicated Minister of State is critically important. We have a robust programme for Government that I view as a minimalist approach. We should aim for that and more, but we need to get started. As far as I can see, the level of representation we have in Europe and the level of sectoral, departmental and Government engagement needs to be better aligned and stronger while representing us in Europe.