Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his contribution. I also want to acknowledge the tremendous work he has done and the engagement he has had with me in the run-up to Brexit, representing the interests of fishermen. Like my constituency, the fisheries sector is important to Cork South-West. In the run-up to Brexit, the Deputy took a constructive approach in championing and defending the sector to ensure the outcome from Brexit was as positive as possible.

In recent days, we had engagement on the idea of a task force which I am considering. I have also discussed with many in the sector how this could be a valuable and constructive way to go forward. I acknowledge the Deputy's role in pushing this. Over the next week to ten days, I will be engaging with the sector on the task force's composition and its full terms of reference to ensure it is up and running soon. It will be essential to how we go forward with the views of fishermen and coastal communities. In the same way that I took the approach in advance of Brexit of working closely with the sector, I intend to work closely with it now.

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