Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

Let me conclude. The single transferable quota is a potentially lethal policy for Ireland which we need to resist, because we do not want to see quota seeping out of Ireland through loopholes in the law. This has already happened in the UK, by the way, as quota was taken by Spanish companies under British flags, and those fish never see the British coast. We do not want to see the same happen in Ireland.

The other issue is that of discards. Fisheries did not do well, particularly in Ireland, from the financial package that went with the current Common Fisheries Policy, and we must aspire to improve on that.

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