Mr. Cormac Burke:

In the past five years, at the request of the fishing industry, the SFPA twice appeared before the previous iteration of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The Deputy's question reminds me that I should have mentioned this point earlier. On the first occasion, the SFPA told the committee that there existed a healthy working relationship between the SFPA and the fishing industry. The statement caused much anger in the industry, who feel that nothing could be further from the truth. At a subsequent Oireachtas hearing, when the subject was again brought up by TDs, the SFPA responded with a rather glib reply to the effect that a bit of friction between the organisation and fishermen is no harm.

This outraged the industry, many of whom feel they have been unfairly targeted, victimised and harassed by the authority over the years. That is to answer the first half of the question.