Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

If you prohibit, you prohibit from 1 October. My briefing note states a limited total allowable catch of 2,000 tonnes of sprat will be permitted for vessels over 18 m long overall within the 6 nautical miles and inside baselines from October 2025 to 30 December 2026 only. The Deputy will know the story of the extensive public consultation that happened prior to this decision being made and the 5,000 submissions received. Some 94% of those submissions wanted a new ban on trawling activity. I have been pursuing it myself with the respective Ministers to get this decision.

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