Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's response gets to the nub of the problem. This has been left to be dealt with at official level with the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority and the Chinese officials. France was subject to the same ban, which lasted for eight months.

5 o’clock

The UK was subject to the same ban, which lasted 12 months. Here we are, 16 months down the road and we still have no access, whereas France and the UK have had access restored. The only explanation one can arrive at is that there was intervention at a political level in France in the UK that allowed exports to resume. It is hard to escape the thought that if this were the pork industry, people would be going over non-stop to try to have it reinstated. However, nothing is happening regarding the live brown crab. To add insult to injury, Irish live brown crab is being exported to France, repackaged and exported to China. How does it make sense? The only explanation can be that there is no involvement at a political or diplomatic level to resolve the issue and that it is being left to the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority.

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