Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I know this is a serious issue which is of real concern to him. I know that he will also have an opportunity to speak directly to the Minister, Deputy Creed, about it as well. There is a judicial review under way in the courts which relates particularly to the issue of mackerel. Given that it is before the courts, it is probably not advisable for me to make any comment on the matter. What I can say is that the system is designed to ensure that those who overfish in one year have their quotas reduced the next year. That is only fair. It is only fair to the people who stick to their quotas that those who do not are not rewarded. We have also brought about a change to give smaller boats, those boats smaller than 18 m, exclusive access to our inshore waters, that is, those waters within that limit of six nautical miles. That is a particular benefit for smaller vessels. As well as that, the Deputy will be aware of the clean ocean initiative which the Minister, Deputy Creed, is championing. That initiative seeks to encourage and assist our fishermen to remove plastics from the sea and to reduce plastic waste. That is of real benefit.

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