Results 1-20 of 11,181 for speaker:Timmy Dooley

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Fishing Industry (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: I full concur with the Deputy's analysis and vast experience. His name is regularly mentioned at the Council and in the European Parliament regarding the interest he has had not just for the Irish fishing sector but also for the sector at a wider European level. His insights were of particular importance. He is right in identifying that the fishing sector paid a particular price with the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Fishing Industry (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: I am conscious of the economic impact on our coastal communities. In successive programmes for Government, we set out a desire to continue to support coastal communities. The Deputy is right; it is through allowing fishers to catch and process fish that we support those communities. I will have to be guided by the scientific advice, as other Ministers have been previously. I know the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Fishing Industry (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: I thank Deputy Gallagher for his interest in this matter. It is something he has been in regular contact with me about both in advance of the scientific advice being released and since then. I know, in particular, of his interest in the Killybegs area and the significant shock this will bring to the community of Killybegs, not just to those directly involved in the processing and catching...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fishing Industry (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: I know the Deputy has a significant interest in this area. He has been in regular contact with me about the matter. As he will know, on 30 September, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea published its advice for widely distributed pelagic stocks for 2026. The ICES advice forms the basis of the scientific advice used by the European Commission in proposing total...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fishing Industry (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: The Deputy is right. Over the past five years, 1 million tonnes more than advised was caught. If you go back over ten years, I believe it would be 2 million. It has been consistent. The Union has accepted it and, as a result, we are seeing destruction prevail. The word "Armageddon" has been used and it is hard not to accept that when you consider the impact on Ireland, particularly with...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fishing Industry (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: As the Deputy will know, a review of the Common Fisheries Policy has been initiated. That may lead to changes in time. The issue of Norway's unilateral grab of quota certainly has to be prosecuted outside of DG MARE and the discussions around fish quotas. It is often raised with me by those within the sector that, where mackerel is used as a feedstock for the production of fishmeal, it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: I will get into the generality of it. I thank the committee for giving me an opportunity to discuss with it the opportunities that exist based on the sustainability impact assessment that is being carried out by ICES. Over the coming month to month and a half, I, together with departmental officials, will engage with the Commission and other member states to address the challenges set out...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: It does not, but it is the only tool available to me at the moment under the system as currently constructed. What the Senator is referring to is a unilateral position that has been adopted by Norway and other third countries where, in accepting the total allowable catch, rather than through negotiation-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: I will get to that. I just want to take the committee through this for the benefit of members who are not as well versed in this as the Senator is. The unilateral identification of quotas, which are being assigned to themselves, is leaving a very limited amount left, and that is leading to overfishing. I have felt that the European Union, through other measures, relationships or the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: I know the Deputy has a significant interest based on where he comes from and the people he knows best. I was in Killybegs last Sunday to meet those who are most impacted and to hear at first hand their thoughts and ideas. I share the Deputy’s assessment of the way in which the European Union has attempted to balance its responsibilities and opportunities in relation to fishing....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: I have time. If the committee wants to extend proceedings, I am happy to stay around.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: I will answer the last question first. In the allocation of quota, particularly mackerel, the inshore fisheries get 400 tonnes off the top, regardless of the cut. The inshore fisheries, if I am not mistaken, are not going to be impacted in terms of their quota allocation by any decision that might be taken in line with the scientific advice in December. I am confident that this resolves...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: From the pelagic fleet and the equipment that is involved, I am not sure that there is necessarily a species in our economic zone that would be commensurate with the kind of volumes involved there. Is it possible that they could find fisheries in some other part of the globe? That is possible, but there are certain restrictions in the context of delisting boats, etc. I have heard a number...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: I have not, but I am open to looking at what we might seek legal advice on. I am mindful that the negotiations are between the EU and Norway. Therefore, the EU acts on behalf of Ireland. We have input into it. A Minister in my position gets into those negotiations on behalf of the State. I am not so sure how I would deploy legal advice there because it ultimately comes down to a decision...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: We had this conversation this morning.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: It does. I have had this discussion with Dr. Kelly as to how we might respond and how we might try to understand the longevity of the crisis. If we set our limits in line with the scientific information, what would the return period be? He identified to me exactly what he said to the Deputy, which is that it is not linear. The only action over which we have control is the fishing or the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: Everybody has a different relationship with the agreement that exists with third countries. Some will benefit more. We always take the view that those that benefit more should pay most but it does not always work out like that. The fact that we have developed this fishery to such a real extent, and Killybegs is such a wonderful example of it, means that when it goes wrong we suffer most....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: I thank Deputy Ward. To his first point on the impact that this will have on communities, I absolutely get it. Having visited Killybegs and other fishing harbours and ports on a number of occasions since my appointment, Killybegs is the stand-out beacon of our pelagic sector - similar to Castletownbere, I suppose. Certainly, Killybegs has built up a phenomenal supply chain around the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Quotas, Common Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Impact Assessment: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Timmy Dooley: On the first one, the answer is "Yes", but I am conscious that it is a battle because I do not have a veto. My view is that the Commission should not facilitate Norway at this time. I will be pushing that position but I will be doing so in a way that it is effectively saying to Norway that we cannot have business as usual and we cannot continue in this environment where we just nod along...