Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to outline the position in this area on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Coveney, who is, unfortunately, unavailable owing to another commitment.

A three-party agreement on the management of the mackerel stock in the north-east Atlantic involving the EU, Norway and the Faroe Islands was agreed on 12 March in London, following lengthy discussions over many months and years. Iceland, despite being involved in all of the negotiations is not party to this agreement. The key elements of the agreement are as follows: the total allowable catch has been set at 1.24 million tonnes for 2014 and in subsequent years it shall be based on the levels advised by the International Council on the Exploration of the Sea, ICES; the agreement is for five years; 12.6% of the total allowable catch has been allocated to Faroes; and a further 15.6% has been held as a coastal state and fishing party reserve. The latter would cover the possible accession of Iceland to the agreement as well as the interests of Russia and Greenland.

Ireland could not support the final agreement because of the unacceptably high number of shares allocated to the Faroe Islands and the level set aside for a reserve. However, there are aspects of the agreement that we can welcome. I refer, for example, to the fact that there will be no access to EU waters for Iceland, access for Norway has been restricted and the relative shares of the EU and Norway have been respected, with each paying proportionately to cover the new arrangements. In addition, the quota for the Irish fleet for 2014 has been increased - from the initial one set at the December Council - by over 60% to 105,000 tonnes. The final quota involves an 82% increase on the quota for 2013.

We have always been supportive of a deal that would bring an end to the irresponsible and excessive fishing of the mackerel stock which we have witnessed during the past five years. This new five-year agreement while far from ideal will at least ensure that, in line with the EU and Norway, the Faroese will be subject to fixed quotas set on the basis of ICES advice. This will protect against the previous dangerously high levels of fishing in which they participated. However, we are disappointed by the fact that the final outcome gave the Faroe Islands a significantly increased 12.6% share of the stock. The 15.6% reserve is intended to cover Iceland, Greenland and Russia but as all these parties are operating outside a formal agreement, there can be no confidence that they will respect even this very generous allocation.

From an Irish perspective, there is considerable disappointment with the high level shares and set aside granted. These appear to reward irresponsible behaviour. Ireland consistently argued at Council, and during the wider negotiations, that the levels being proposed for the parties to which I refer were too high. It is on that basis that we cannot support the overall deal. However, the European Commission and the EU member states with mackerel fishing fleets, including the UK which is the largest mackerel quota holder in the Union, were willing to accept the granting of those levels of share to the Faroes and the share set aside in the reserve.

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