Ms Caroline Bocquel:

I will speak to some of those matters. On the benchmarking, it is worth noting that all EU member states report the data under the data collection framework. That does something similar to the benchmarking exercise the Deputy speaks of and obviously we are part of that nationally so that benchmarking does happen.

Regarding the decline in industry growth, there is absolutely no doubt that Brexit was catastrophic for the industry. There is no question about that. There has been simply no upside to Brexit for the seafood sector. We know we lost enormous amounts of mackerel and Dublin bay prawns, our two main species, and it has created huge difficulties for the sector that are permanent adjustments that have to be made, which are very difficult for the sector. That has reduced the growth of the sector somewhat over that period.

Notwithstanding that there was a 3% decrease in 2023 because of those investments that were being made as a result of the Brexit adjustment reserve fund, the current value of the processing sector is at a record high. It has dropped a bit, by 3%, but it is just about at a record high. Once those significant investments of €30 million that were made in the capital side under the BAR fund start to take effect, which we would expect to start to see this year, we will expect that sector to grow again.