Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy knows, I cannot get into the ins and outs of the weighing and operational matters because those are matters for the SFPA. The committee had an engagement with the SFPA this week and it is open to the committee to have a more detailed engagement with the authority on this matter.

Our challenge is that the European Commission is the overall authority for setting regulations and managing the Common Fisheries Policy. We, as a member state, are part of that policy. As a result of its administrative inquiry, the Commission did not have confidence in the system that we had in place. Its implementing decision reads:

Ireland could not guarantee an effective control of landed quantities of catches and minimise the risk of non-compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy. The failure to ensure appropriate weighing also puts at risk the accuracy of the data reported that are essential for control purposes ...

Therefore, it revoked our control plan. That is what the Commission decided. It is the Commission's legal competence. I understand the significant challenge that this has resulted in for fishers on piers across the country. I also understand the importance of having a new control plan in place, a matter that the SFPA discussed with the committee in detail on Tuesday when it outlined its engagement process and how such a new plan could be introduced.

What has come out of the administrative inquiry process is challenging. Indeed, there are many challenges in the sector at the moment and we did not need another like this. Nonetheless, it is one that we must face up to and address. We must work at all levels to do the best by our national industry.