Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue, which has been a tremendous source of frustration for everyone in the sector. Watching Norway and the Faroe Islands act unilaterally in regard last year and set unilateral TACs was a tremendous source of frustration. Everyone would like more fish. That is a universal truth across the fishing sector. However, people have to work together in order to sustainably manage the stocks that are there, otherwise the inevitable will happen if they are not fished sustainably and they will not be there for anyone in years ahead. That is not something anybody can stand over. Certainly, the actions of Norwegians and the Faroese in terms of unilaterally setting extra catches and quotas for themselves and not engaging with either ourselves or the UK in relation to coming to an agreement is totally unacceptable. It is something I have raised very firmly with Commissioner Sinkeviius. It is something he has very much acknowledged and engaged on and he is very active on in terms of trying to address it. As I said in my opening contribution, sanctions should be available to us if progress is not made on this matter. In the short term, we need to see engagement and work at EU level and also in conjunction with the UK to try to resolve this issue. If we cannot resolve it, then the issue of trade sanctions should certainly be on the table. What we saw last year is not acceptable or sustainable.