Mr. Lorcán Ó Cinnéide:

I represent the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association, which represents - by value - more than 50% of the fish processed in the country. All in all, the sector employs 3,800 people. These are not all full-time employees but there is approximately 2,800 full-time equivalents. To give an idea of the scale involved, the sector has 42 shellfish companies, 40 whitefish companies, 15 pelagic companies and 17 companies dealing with salmon. I have borrowed an infographic from Bord Iascaigh Mhara, which has done a much better job on this than we have. It demonstrates the points on the size of the sector that Mr. O'Donoghue made. More than €500 million worth of exports are at stake. The committee will note that the infographic, as Mr. O'Donoghue pointed out, also shows the €148 million worth of exports to the UK. From the perspective of the processing and exporting sector, while it is clear that there is a balance of trade advantage - imports versus exports - Brexit poses a significant threat. We have been dealing with two different currencies - the euro and sterling - but the fluctuations in sterling may well make UK product more competitive on the Irish market. There is a further issue in terms of the value of sterling on international markets in so far as the UK and Ireland are sending a lot of fish into third country markets outside the EU.

To cut to the chase, I concur with the Mr. O'Donoghue's analysis of the industry in general as well as the catching sector. The interests of the processing sector are very much aligned with those of the catching sector in this regard, as the processing sector is largely based on landings by Irish vessels. The threat to supply, as represented by Brexit, is a threat not only to the boats but also to those the boats supply, that is, my members.

As has been pointed out, a very large amount of that supply comes from vessels fishing in the UK zone. To take an agricultural analogy, this is not simply a question of access to the UK market, it is the right to the farm. It is about the right to catch the resources in question. There has been a very significant investment in processing over the years and many Government plans and industry strategies call for increasing the percentage share of the fish that is processed, and increasing its value. Food Wise 2025 and Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth are the two main documents governing the development of the industry. They were very ambitious and had realisable targets for adding value but they are now under significant threat from Brexit. The period between now and the negotiations could be two years or five years and the uncertainty is a threat to our plans. I do not doubt the threat of Brexit to various other industries but we have to be very alive to the existential threat to the viability of both the catching and processing sectors.

The British ambition for Brexit and its macho posturing over a hard Brexit, ruling out involvement in a customs union or the Single Market, bring into question tariffs, trade agreements and WTO rules. That view of life represents a very significant potential distortion, not just of our trade with the UK but of the trade for which we compete with other countries, within Europe or outside.

The processing sector is not saying the sky is falling as this will only happen if our negotiations are not successful. The fundamental impact of this needs to be taken on board by our Government. The departmental advisory group which is looking at Brexit is meeting next week and the Minister has invited us. We will attend but it is very important that the Department of the Taoiseach is represented, both on this group and in the negotiations. These negotiations will be carried out between the European Union and Britain and the European Union needs to take on board the unique set of circumstances that exist in Ireland. The positions taken in these negotiations must reflect that or we will be in very serious difficulties.