Results 7,301-7,320 of 35,639 for speaker:Pearse Doherty
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: They cannot be weighed in Ireland.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Yes but they can be bought by Irish processors.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Okay. If there have been 100 landings since the start of the year, how does the SFPA satisfy itself that all the landings have been weighed in the port in which it was landed originally?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: But the SFPA decides then, because the SFPA decided in a case, which is a unique case, to strip away the weighing licence of two operators. This was because, what, loads of publicity because RTÉ was showing up what was happening in this dispute?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Has it happened in any other case where fish have come into the port of Derry and been purchased by processors in the Twenty-Six Counties?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: That is the question. We know that. The question is how does the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority satisfy itself whether that is happening or not? It went out of its way in some way to find out that it did not happen. I am not suggesting that it did not happen but the SFPA obviously assumed that it did not happen because as a result of that, it took the weighing licences off two...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Okay. On the procedure, the officials have mentioned that it is common for fish to be landed in a jurisdiction and then to be purchased by operators. Basically, the SFPA has intruded in another jurisdiction. Will the witnesses convince the committee that what the SFPA has done is not vindictive as a result of the controversy that is going on in Killybegs, which is very serious? I respect...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: I am not accusing them of being vindictive. I am asking them to convince the committee that this was not vindictive. That is my point.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: That is fair enough.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: With respect, I am not questioning that. I agree 100% and the fishermen that I speak to also agree because the preservation and management of those fish stocks is their livelihood. The question I asked is in relation to procedures around landing in Derry. What are the procedures for notification? How has the SFPA identified whether weighing has taken place or not? What are the procedures...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Nobody is disputing that. With respect-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: We all want an accurate count. Will Mr. Hayes please talk to me about the procedure? Take the context as read. I want an accurate count. I want the SFPA to do its job to make sure that it is an accurate count. Take that as read. I am asking about procedures and then I will come to the weighing mechanisms in Killybegs.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Will the officials inform the committee of the landings and how that procedure was applied right throughout the last year perhaps, to ensure that it was not just a one-off? I want to go into the options and what is at the nub of this to complete my questioning. In his opening statement, Mr. Hayes mentioned that the High Court has deemed the industry weighing system as operational or as...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: But we are talking about the 5% here. If properly calibrated independently, can that weighing machine be used if we got over the anomaly of it being industry-owned?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: The industry has made an offer to the SFPA that it will purchase it or gift it to the SFPA, is that correct?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: I thank Mr. Hayes for the timeline.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: I am fully aware of that. If the industry was willing to either lease, sell or gift the machinery, notwithstanding the complexities that have been outlined, would the SFPA be able to operate that and, therefore, allow for that 5% to be weighed using that mechanism on the pier?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)
Pearse Doherty: To save jobs, help the industry and make sure that vessels do not turn away from Ireland, would the SFPA consider the option as a compromise? If the Department or a charity owned it would the SFPA be happy then to have it calibrated and use that as an option? There are two options. Would the SFPA be willing to use that as an option if it was not industry owned?