Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)

There are two parts to that. This is not meant to be evasive or defensive but the SFPA is independent of me in its entirety and carries out its own functions without direction from me. Legislatively, I cannot involve myself in that. I am sure it will be listening to the Cathaoirleach's points. It does a risk-based analysis. We have to be careful about unintended consequences as well. Particularly in the processing sector, there are some who would say that the actions of the SFPA on occasion lead to foreign vessels not visiting our ports or depositing fish here and it is impacting on processors' ability to get enough fish to process. There is a potential double jeopardy there. All the members will understand what I am saying.

At the Council, which is what the Cathaoirleach is talking about, regarding how we can assert our position and take a whole-of-government approach, I am in the process of putting that together with colleagues to see how we can use other relationships that exist between the Union and third countries and assert ourselves in those fora to a point where we can challenge the trade everyone is referring to, particularly the trade in farmed salmon that comes back into the European Union. Overfishing is, unfortunately, baked into the agreements that take place in December. It is overfishing as opposed to illegal fishing, where activity takes place outside any parameters. That is also an issue, mainly perpetrated by Russia.

It is where there is a tacit acceptance that we agree that they fish above a certain level because they just will not engage on the agreement. Should there be a push-back there? I believe there should be. It is about how we can do that through the other trade relations between the two. I am prepared to work with my colleagues here, and I am sure there are other committees. Perhaps it is an opportunity for this committee to bring in other Government colleagues with responsibility for those areas and identify to them the challenges the industry faces as a result of being benign or passive in trade relations.