Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 11 May 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Fishing Industry: Discussion

Mr. John Ward:

In response to the comments made by the Senator, all I will do is ask who benefited from the data leaks that were given to the three major news organisations. It certainly was not the fishing industry.

I would like to make a point on the weighing system. The SFPA expressed serious doubts about the weighing system in the factories.

The type of weighing system that exists in the factories in Ireland is exactly the same as what is in factories in Scotland, Norway and Denmark. For some reason, the authorities in these countries do not seem to have any problem with them.

In response to another question, the weighing systems that are in the factories were approved by the SFPA. Further to that, the SFPA insisted that CCTV cameras be installed so that it could watch the weighing of fish in its offices.

Today, the SFPA has said that it has 150 members of staff and that 11 factories in total produce pelagic fish. Surely out of that 150 staff, if the SFPA is not satisfied by what is happening in the factories, it could find 11 people who could spend a day in the factories to see exactly what is happening, but there is an unwillingness to do that.

We, as an industry, have tried very hard to engage with the Minister but we have seen Ministers change while nothing else. The problem is that there is an unwillingness of what we call the permanent government to change.