Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)
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The witnesses are very welcome. I am delighted to see them here. I will just ask three questions of whomever feels best placed to respond to them. I ask that we keep it brief enough so that we can get the three questions and responses in. Will Mr. Desmond expand on his statement regarding fisheries that were unjustifiably closed? What effect did this have on the local economy?

My second question has to do with the impartial chair for the north west herring advisory committee. What seems to be the main issue there? Can it be resolved?

It seems that the brown crab is extremely important. A high percentage of inshore vessels rely on this stock, as is mentioned in the statement. I understand that fishermen are having to put out 100 pots where they used to put out 30 to catch the same amount of crab. What barriers are there to inshore fishermen diversifying into new species? How can the Department tackle this?