Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The objective is absolutely laudable in terms of making sure as much processing as possible can happen on the island. The jobs and the added value come from that. The objective is one that we have to be pursuing. We must try to exploit the opportunity that exists in this regard.

If I heard Mr. Groonell clearly, he is saying that up to 12,000 tonnes of the quota to which different fisherman would have purchased an entitlement over the years should be allocated, without charge, to the 12 factories and that each of those factories would then have its own separate agreement with fishermen, whereby the 1,000 tonnes per factory would be allocated to the fishermen. Mr. Groonell's organisation and the fishermen would then agree a price for the fish. Mr. Groonell is saying the market price. One can always argue about the market price. The market price is the price for which one can purchase on the open market. It basically means that the processor gets the quota. It can then do the deal on the price. It has the potential to agree a price with fishermen. With regard to the legalities, that strikes me as interference in the market. I do not know whether the delegation has explored this. The interference would have all sorts of implications in terms of State aid and in respect of two companies. That is what strikes me about this.

I asked a question about current access to fish. Is it the case that for some of the processing companies to be able to operate and make a profit, they need to be able to get fish at a price lower than what is available on the open market or is it the case that there is no fish on the open market and they have nowhere to go to get that fish? Am I right in saying that because the polyvalent boats that were bought up are smaller and would have been based locally, they would have been delivering the catch only into the local ports? Am I wrong in saying that they would not have had the capacity to go internationally, whereas the bigger boats can land in different countries depending on the price available? Is that the case? The larger boats have to pay a higher price because they have a wider market in terms of choosing where they go to get the best price for their catch.