Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

I said earlier that huge political failure at European level puts immense pressure on the entire Irish fishing fleet and leads to some of the tensions articulated here today. We should note that. Iceland and Norway, which are two sovereign countries, and the Faroe Islands, which are pretty much sovereign although they are part of Denmark, have utterly ignored scientific advice and overfished a species. As it is a migratory species, it was a shared resource for the countries bordering those waters. It is absolutely devastating. We are looking at the bankruptcy and destruction of a sector, along with the destruction of jobs and communities, with no repercussions whatsoever. Our own fishermen would never get away with that. It is devastating in the context we meet today. It is no wonder that fishermen are fighting with each other. The pressure people are under is immense. That is the context which should focus all our minds.

I believe in a science-led approach, but it must be applied consistently across the board. Nobody can escape the science. That is reckless and destroys the opportunities of future generations. It is hard to argue for a strong, robust scientific approach today, but we must. We have no choice, even if other countries utterly recklessly ignore it.

In her written submission, Ms McSherry stated, "Ireland will, of course, have regard for a possible TAC [total allowable catch] and quota regime or other appropriate conservation measures going forward if recommended in the scientific advice to support the sustainable management of sprat." In its submission, the seafood alliance protests repeatedly, and compellingly, that it wants to see robust scientific evidence for management. I am led to understand that in the Baltic and North seas, a maximum sustainable catch of yield approach, based on science, is taken. Is there an international model that Ireland could follow? I will say again that it appears to me that we could set a quota in Ireland. Can we do that?

Can the Irish Government, on the basis of science and taking a science-led approach, set a quota for sprat? In her written submission, Ms McSherry stated, "At this time, there is no proposal from the EU Commission for a total allowable catch". That is absolutely extraordinary. On the one hand, we are not ensuring that the food chain for a species is protected by not using a scientific basis. On the other hand, we ignore countries that recklessly destroy species in defiance of international and scientific advice. We do nothing when people ignore the rules to that level and we do not even bother to provide a framework. This is tough. We are legislators. We always say that laws only work if they apply to everybody equally and are enforced. We see today the breakdown of international law. There are implications when people ignore the law and when laws are not in place.

It is hard not to vent. Many of the committee members know what this means for our communities. We know that people are losing their livelihoods and jobs on the back of this advice. The news we are getting today is absolutely devastating. It is impossible not refer to that when we are dealing with this issue. We have no choice other than to base this on science. I again ask the Marine Institute and Ms McSherry, the assistant director in the Department, how we get to a point where we have absolutely solid scientific advice? Is it a matter of employing more officials? Do we need more resources for the Marine Institute to do this? Will we do what the fishermen have asked us to, which is to have a scientific framework on which we can rely in order that they are not fighting with each other? Is there a model in other countries, as I am led to understand there is in the Baltic and North seas, that we could lean on in considering how to address this issue?