Results 11,401-11,420 of 23,950 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank Deputy Murphy. As I mentioned, the operation and management of the weighing side of things is an operational matter, legally, which the Deputy will be aware of as a legislator, under the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006, which sets out where everything stands on this and designates the SFPA as the legally competent authority for all operational matters as to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: That is correct.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: It is an independent authority under law. It is answerable to this committee, the Oireachtas. I know this committee had a meeting with representatives of the SFPA earlier this week. It is directly accountable to the Oireachtas and to committees of the Oireachtas.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The revocation of the control plan would have been, yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The administrative inquiry is against Ireland, as a member state. I, as Minister, have policy responsibility. The SFPA is the competent authority for control.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Findings of the administrative inquiry deem that the control plan we had in place and the systems we had in place were not sufficient to ensure the risks of non-compliance were being dealt with. That is why it has revoked it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: As Minister, I have responsibility for policy. I also have responsibility to resource the SFPA appropriately for the important job it needs to carry out. Section 68 of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 very clearly outlines that the authority, the SFPA, shall "whenever required by the Committee of Dáil Éireann established under the Standing Orders of Dáil...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I ask the Deputy to repeat her question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: It is the legal responsibility of the industry to weigh the fish-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: -----wherever that weighing takes place. Where the SFPA is conducting a controlled weighing, the SFPA carries that out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The industry.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The industry does. It might be useful to outline article 60 of the EU regulations on the weighing of fishery products: Registered buyers, registered auctions or other bodies or persons which are responsible for the first marketing of fisheries products in a Member State shall be responsible for the accuracy of the weighing operation unless, in accordance with paragraph 3, the weighing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy for his contribution, his ongoing representations to me on behalf of fishers and the fishing community in County Cork and his work on their behalf. As regards weighing and all those operational matters, legally I am precluded from getting into the middle of that. Legally, that is the job of the committee, rather than my job as Minister. The SFPA reports on those matters...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: If it is in the operational sense, it is probably a discussion to have with the SFPA with regard to what the -----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy. This is an issue he raised with me previously. We have discussed it and I very much understand the pressure the sector has been under, particularly the inshore sector, through the past year. I wish to recognise again the tremendous work done by all in the marine and fishery sector in the past year in keeping food supply chains going in very difficult and challenging...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: It is a highly regulated sector because the waters are shared across Europe and there are quotas for the various species. That brings red tape and challenges to everyone working in the sector. There is no doubt it is important to ensure the fish that are there are sustainably fished and we will continue to be able to fish them into the future. In 2006, responsibility for overseeing the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: As Minister, my only objective is to make the most of our marine and fisheries sector, and to support it in every way I can. That is my sole objective. A core objective, as Minister, is to work with it and ensure we have a sustainable fishery into the future. I want to have an industry that is as healthy as possible, delivers maximum employment, makes the most of our coastal resources and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The SFPA is communicating and engaging closely on a daily basis with fishers and processors in respect of the management of the current situation. The Deputy should note that until such time as the EU Commission revoked the control plan, there was no such decision. That meant the SFPA had to respond and the impact that had in respect of fishers on the ground is relevant. Until such time as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: They have not applied to us either up until now because we still do not have a master's penalty points system. The penalty points system for licence holders has only been in place since last August. Until last August, Ireland was the only member state that did not have a penalty points system for licence holders. As of now, we are the only member state that does not have a penalty point...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The rules apply to everyone.