Mr. Aodh ? Domhnaill:

I thank the Vice Chair and Deputy Mac Lochlainn. I will just talk about the two points the Deputy has raised. With regard to the Irish processing indication, the reason I used the EUROSTAT trend is because it provides hard figures. It shows that we are in a very difficult and bad place. It merely confirms what we already know. All you have to do is drive through the various fishing towns on the west or east coast of Ireland to see the decline and demise of the catching and processing sectors. First-class vessels of world-class standard are tied to piers while vessels from other member states are out catching and processing fish from our waters to their own benefit. This decline is evident. For example, in the south of Ireland there is only one pelagic processing company left. That is an indication of the fact that there is not sufficient supply of raw material.

There is something else that is important to point out. The Deputy mentioned Belgium. Belgium has a coastline of approximately 67 km and yet its processing turnover is €300 million, almost 50% more than Ireland's. It is ridiculous and just does not make sense. The other key indicator is that, over a period of ten years, landings of Irish vessels into both Irish and foreign ports dropped by 33%. At the same time, the landings of foreign vessels into Irish ports increased to 145%. You can therefore see that we are losing the game. Foreign vessels are a very important source of supply for us but, in that context and the context of quotas, employment and socioeconomic considerations, if we do not have a fit-for-purpose control procedure to get that fish landed properly, freshly and in the best condition, we will also displace that supply for processors. I am not here to represent the processing sector but this is an indication of a problem we have.

With regard to blue whiting, I am relatively new in this position but I find it really difficult to understand why, given that we have a quota of less than 3% of the total while the Norwegians have eight to nine times that, most of which is caught in our waters, we would even think about giving them access to catch this fish without some form of deal.

We have had a strong relationship with Norway for a long time but business is business and we need to represent our sector effectively.

On the consultation, I am relatively new to the representation sector but from what I observe, particularly with Norway, the negotiators are very effective. The negotiators in Norway take the lead from the industry, whereas in Europe all the member states are represented by two or three negotiators, who take the lead from the Commission. They think about things like oil and gas and the benefits to other member states. Some member states have a much better relationship with their industry than we have. The Dutch work hand in glove with their sector. They are really close and they develop it. That shows in the fact the companies have increased, grown in scale and scope and developed their business abroad.

There needs to be a better level of engagement between industry and the public service, as well as at political level, to represent Ireland. Otherwise, there will be continued decline. We can fight the fight and go out to Europe to see what is going on but, in principle, they will say we have to use our own people in our own public service to represent the industry. That is my experience. It is a pointed situation and that is what we need to focus on if we are to survive. We are here in the national interest to build the businesses. There are 16,000 employed in the sector but after Brexit and with everything that is going on, that will reduce significantly.