Results 21-40 of 51 for sfpa speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

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

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...back pretty much verbatim. The Minister has travelled around the coast. He has met fishermen online and in person all around the coast. He knows their views towards the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, which, unfortunately, has been a dysfunctional organisation and is now undertaking reform at last. However, the Minister knows there are protests within the organisation. It...

Seafood Taskforce Final Report: Statements (9 Dec 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...unload their uninspected catch into frozen container trucks and go home to their own countries. Meanwhile, Irish vessels are chased from pillar to post by the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, and the Naval Service with much lower quotas, and have recently been forced to unload their iced catch on the harbours, de-ice it for inspection and only then send it to the factory for...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I have just read back over the comments made by the Minister before he took up the post of Minister. At that time he was very critical of the Department and the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA. The big issue for him then was the balance of probability. The current approach in the statutory instrument deals with the balance of probability rather than having to prove beyond doubt,...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...at the long-standing culture of not helping them to build their industry but of holding them back. The approach that is taken in this legislation and by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, reflects a culture that is not replicated across Europe. I do not believe there is the same level of enforcement and monitoring of other fishing fleets as we see with our own fleet by our own...

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (20 Oct 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...situation where on the south coast, our boats are tied up while day after day, Spanish, French and Belgian boats land fish at our harbours, with no checks from the Sea-Fisheries Protection Agency, SFPA, to be exported back to their own country. There is no value, no checks and no equality for the fishermen there. I am asking for the Minister of State, along with the Minister for...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Fisheries Policy (5 Oct 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...under articles 60 and 61 of EU Council regulations that allow non-Irish registered European vessels to land their fishing catches at Irish ports without any checks being carried out by the SFPA and in which responsibility for checks is laid upon their home countries once they return; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47817/21]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Jun 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I welcome our guests from the SFPA. I have a number of questions but first I want to acknowledge the 14-page substantial submission the SFPA has made to the committee. I want to refer to a number of references in it and that will link in with my questions. The authority welcomed the invitation for its representatives to appear before the committee but expressed frustration that it has not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Jun 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: .... The industry had no ability to defend itself. As far as I know, there has been one conviction - one - in a court of law that followed the NSAI taking that prosecution, none as a result of the SFPA, despite it being a very strong regulator, arguably the strongest in Europe. There was only one prosecution, yet it led to allegations of an industry that was criminal in its intent. I put...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Jun 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...and a range of people who are interested in the marine. I have been a spokesperson for my own party on fisheries and the marine for about a year and I have engaged extensively, including with the SFPA, to try to get the wider perspectives. I find the situation astonishing and I really want to reiterate this point. The SFPA has increased its budget, increased its staff and increased its...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Jun 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I have one question. If the SFPA is not the most effective and strongest regulator in Europe then which is?

Fisheries and Coastal Communities: Statements (17 Jun 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...soul and fire and passion. We have ground and time to make up and we need to fight hard for our interests at European level. That is critical. I refer to the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA. My God, if anything represents what is going on in fishing communities and what has gone wrong for so long, it is the performance of the SFPA. As the Minister is aware, PwC did an...

Maritime Jurisdiction Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (15 Jun 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...prevented from fishing in the 12-mile limit around Rockall. Marine Scotland and the British navy has intervened and prevented them from fishing within that area. The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, has checked with these fishermen to make sure they are not fishing within that 12-mile limit. The Government states that, having made this agreement in 2013-14, it does not...

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

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...were clearly given a report that the industry has not been given. I submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister and he confirmed that he cannot provide this report. We then have the SFPA administrative inquiry, which we understand confirms that this report is correct and endorses it. That leads us to this real crisis that affects every single pier and harbour across the State....

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

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...of seals around the weighing device to prevent it from being tampered with, there are CCTV cameras observing all the fish as they are weighed in real time and those monitors feed directly to the SFPA offices. That is a remarkable level of oversight. Then, at the back end of the factory, one can see packages with 20 kg of fish, with 60 on each trolley, weighing 1.2 tonnes. One can go...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry: Discussion (11 May 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Does the SFPA believe that a person or persons facing charges that impact on their reputations and livelihoods have a right to be presented with the evidence so that they can defend themselves?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry: Discussion (11 May 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...would damage his or her reputation or livelihood would expect the evidence that had led to those charges to be presented to him or her so that the person could defend himself or herself. Does the SFPA agree with that as a right or as a principle of law?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry: Discussion (11 May 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I thank Dr. Steele. Apparently, the European Commission audit that was made available to the SFPA and the Government in 2018 covers the period from 2012 to early 2015. This audit was presented to the SFPA, which then chose to carry out an administrative inquiry. I am not sure about the SFPA's administrative inquiry, but the audit has been leaked to a range of national media. There have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry: Discussion (11 May 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...the fish go over is state of the art. It is virtually impossible to tamper with it. It is sealed. There is closed-circuit television. The weighing system is monitored round the clock by the SFPA. Therefore, the SFPA has its eyes on it. It is a National Standards Authority of Ireland, NSAI, weighing system. That authority can inspect it at any time. That is the front-of-house...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry: Discussion (11 May 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...Processors and Exporters Association, IFPEA. Its representatives have made a very detailed submission to the committee today and will be aware that we have just had an intensive engagement with the SFPA. The EU audit of 2018 was conducted from 2012 to 2015. Apparently, this audit has been leaked to at least three national media outlets. Its implications are very damning to the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (22 Apr 2021)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...control regulation; the position regarding the current oversight of weighing systems in Irish fish production factories including tamper-proof systems that are observed by direct video link to the SFPA and subject to unannounced inspections by the NSAI at any time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21026/21]