Results 1-20 of 51 for sfpa speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Regulatory Bodies (13 Jun 2023)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 943. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is aware of the reports in the latest edition of 'The Skipper' of the alleged actions of SFPA officials, while encouraging fishing skippers to agree to install remote electronic monitoring (REM) cameras on board their fishing vessels; and if he will order an independent review of these serious allegations. [27369/23]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The European Commission, in its recent statistics, rated Ireland as the most compliant member state in the EU in terms of fishery regulations. Does the SFPA agree with that rating? Is it correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: So the SFPA is not aware that Ireland is the most compliant member state in the EU in terms of fishery regulation. Is that what Mr. Hayes is saying on the record?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I did not ask about that. Can the SFPA confirm whether Ireland is the most compliant in the EU? Surely the SFPA must know that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...questions concern CCTV. I have witnessed the following with my own eyes in terms of a factory in Killybegs. I understand that there are ten CCTV cameras in one factory that are accessible to the SFPA officials at all times. It means that they can sit in their office in Killybegs and in real time monitor the weighing and the operations that take place within the factory. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Can the SFPA make unannounced inspections in any relevant factory in Killybegs?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...the EU. Mr. Hayes does not know if that is true but I believe it to be the case. I have outlined the level of oversight to which the industry is subjected yet we face the following debacle. The SFPA is in negotiations with the industry on the pier side flow-scale system and if these negotiations or agreements break down, then the matter goes to the High Court. On 4 June 2021, Mr....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Has the SFPA taken control of the system? Has the SFPA done the natural thing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Prior to the judgment did the SFPA convey any concerns in that the problem was that this was not in the control of an independent body? Was that the SFPA's concern prior to the High Court decision?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I will ask my question again. Did the SFPA articulate, prior this matter, unfortunately, going to the High Court, that the difficulty was that the matter was in the control of the industry? These were the concerns of the SFPA before the case went to the High Court. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...understanding is the witnesses' objection is that this weighing system is owned by the industry. It went to court and the judge made a clear decision that the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, is acting ultra viresin how it is dealing with this. Suddenly, the European Commission started to share the authority's concerns. It has been said publicly in many forums that the industry...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I have here a copy of correspondence sent to Mr. Hayes on 5 May from the SFPA consultative committee, which exists under the same legislation as the SFPA. It has grave concerns about how this has been handled and the lack of consultation with it. It asks, if the ownership of the flow scales on the pier in Killybegs is transferred to systems not operated or owned by the industry, whether the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...of Ireland or Great Britain but very substantial numbers of landings have come through the North over the years. My understanding is that since 1983, there have been around 5,000 per annum. The SFPA has been in existence since 2006. How many licences for permits for weighing landings that came through the North has it removed during this period?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: That is not the question I asked. I asked how many times the SFPA has withdrawn the permit from an operator for landings that came through the North. The SFPA has been in existence since 2006.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Weighing of Fisheries Products: Discussion (18 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...Mr. Hayes not understand why it is difficult for this committee to comprehend why after all those years when landings through the North were taking place - thousands every year since 1983 while the SFPA has been existence as a regulator since 2006 - it is only now in this high-profile scenario where processors have challenged the SFPA that the SFPA is ruling on permits. Perhaps it has...

Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Security: Statements (12 May 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...fish are landed to be weighed, in that one factory alone there are ten CCTV cameras trained on the weighing system that belong to and are fully controlled by the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, the regulator. SFPA staff can keep an eye while not even leaving their office in Killybegs and they can watch the weighing happening in real time. If they want to be there physically,...

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (6 Apr 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...is punishing fishermen more and more. As we speak, a Norwegian vessel has been forced to land in Derry rather than Killybegs because of a decision of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA regarding the blue whiting on that vessel and on another vessel from Denmark. The whiting is for human consumption and is destined for places like west Africa. It is a really important and...

Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (2 Feb 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: .... If he had done that, he would not have made the assertion he made earlier that he has never heard of those publications criticising the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine or the SFPA. That was an astonishing statement. I can tell the Minister that, from talking to fishermen up and down the coast, there is, sadly, a wall of distrust that has been established over a long...

Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (2 Feb 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...in the statutory instrument deals with the balance of probability rather than having to prove beyond doubt, which is normally the case where a criminal sanction is being pursued. The role of the SFPA permeates the statutory instrument at all stages, which was the basis on which the Supreme Court struck down the previous statutory instruments. The Minister was against everything that he...

Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (2 Feb 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Tell me who I named. The Minister said that I personalise the issue. Who did I name? Did I name any official in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine or the SFPA? I did now what the Minister did back then. I believe that the Minister knows in his heart, as Deputy Danny Healy-Rae said, that this is wrong. It is my job as a spokesperson on fisheries and the marine to read The...