Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

British boats may be fishing, but they have not fully got around the system yet. What has happened here is that the European Commission introduced a regulation on 23 November implementing cuts to the allocation of fishing effort to certain member states, and the UK has not accepted the Commission's assessment of fishing effort used and the quantity of effort available as set down in that regulation. As a result of an ongoing negotiation between the Commission and the UK, that regulation has been withdrawn for the moment while it is reviewed. That review is under way and it will have consequences next year. We are going into important negotiations from tomorrow in the December Council that will probably go on until Saturday. We have met our commitments and have received recognition of that from the Commission in terms of our obligations in the Irish Sea prawn fishery.

Last week, we raised the issue of the treatment of the UK directly with the Commission. The one thing upon which I will insist at the Council this week is that Irish boats get the same treatment as British boats in terms of the limitations in the Irish Sea, even though there is a mismatch at the moment because the review is ongoing.

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