Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her compliments on the work of the Department's consular division during the Covid crisis. We are not finished yet because the virus is still accelerating in many parts of the world, including where Irish citizens live. This is the case in Latin America, South America, the United States itself and across Africa. I expect our consular division will continue to be very busy supporting Irish citizens who want to come home.

On fishing, the Deputy has raised a series of issues. No one should assume the outcome yet. It cannot be said yet that we will be locked out of UK waters or that 30% of the stock we access will be wiped out. We do not know whether any of that is true yet. We are in a negotiation. The important point in this negotiation is that fisheries are part of the broader trade negotiation to ensure the EU uses the leverage it has to get the best possible outcome for its fishing interests, including Irish fishing interests. My job, therefore, is to ensure the task force led by Mr. Michel Barnier will continue to focus on a good outcome from a fisheries perspective to try to protect the two key areas, namely, access to UK waters to catch fish and quota share. With regard to mackerel, for example, many of the stocks caught off Scotland spawn off Ireland. The reality is that we should be catching fish where it makes sense to catch them from sustainability and conservation perspectives, in addition to a profitability perspective. What we do not want are distortions of fishing that force fishermen to catch fish too early or in the wrong place in response to the restrictions in a post-Covid environment. This is a complex negotiation but an important one for counties such as Donegal, Galway and Kerry, in addition to west Cork, Wexford, Howth and all the other constituencies and counties that rely greatly on the fishing industry. It is central to our prioritisation in terms of the Brexit outcome.

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