Results 1-20 of 46 for sfpa speaker:Michael Collins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Michael Collins: ...sets of figures, which is astonishing. There are two different sets of figures in the one country. One set is what processors say are derived from the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority's, SFPA's, sampling system, which regards each sample as a representative extrapolation of the entire catch. The newspaper article continues: The system operates either on the pier on landing or - if the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Michael Collins: ...do this. We can question but the Minister can give instruction under section 46 of the 2006 Act, where it states that the Minister has the power to give general policy direction in respect of the SFPA's functions. Section 42 also states that one of the functions of the SFPA is to advise the Minister about policy and effective implementation of fishery laws. This is not effective...

Inshore Fishing: Motion [Private Members] (25 Jan 2023)

Michael Collins: ...to do so, even though she did not have a background in fishing. This is why I always call for their very survival. I now call for a change of mind in the rank and file of the Department towards fishermen. Likewise, we must have a change in the mind-set of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, towards Irish fishermen. If this does not change, the Government will wipe out both...

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

Michael Collins: ..., IFSA. They have worked hard to try to make the lives of fishermen a little easier in what are extremely difficult times. I hope this will be the first of many meetings we will have with the SFPA and perhaps with other organisations. A massive gap needs to be bridged between the man or woman on the ground and the SFPA. This is obvious to the whole country and perhaps the whole world....

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

Michael Collins: Thank you. The "Yes" was perfect. When the SFPA takes the owner of a fishing vessel to court, it is represented by two senior civil servants. Am I right in saying this? These are Cecil Beamish and Josephine Kelly from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Has this been the case during the last five years? Again, I ask Mr. Hayes for a yes-no answer.

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

Michael Collins: Okay. If it was the case, how could the SFPA declare itself to be acting as an independent body?

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

Michael Collins: Will Mr. Hayes outline the official working relationship between the SFPA and the Department?

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

Michael Collins: I thank Mr. O'Mahony. The last time we had witnesses here from the SFPA, the then chair, Dr. Susan Steele - who has since moved to a different job and we wish her the best with that - claimed there was a good working relationship between the SFPA and the industry and its representatives. This committee, however, has been strongly advised that this is not the case. I ask Mr. Hayes to inform...

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

Michael Collins: Yes, but this is something the organisations are concerned with. The SFPA has consistently stated that it wishes to work with the organisations. I could be wrong here and perhaps it has a great relationship with all the representative organisations. We certainly need to know, however, if there is a better relationship with one above another, because that is not what is being said out there.

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

Michael Collins: Okay. Throughout the Killybegs blue whiting controversy, the SFPA has publicly insisted that it has continually offered the option to the vessels landing that they could use the pelagic flow scales. This, however, was done without specifying that the SFPA was ordering that this state-of-the-art system, which was declared suitable by the High Court as being fit for purpose, must have the...

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

Michael Collins: Under whose instruction is the SFPA employing methods of monitoring and regulation that are not being used anywhere else in the EU? Are such decisions taken by Mr. Hayes or by the SFPA management board? Are the instructions handed down from above?

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

Michael Collins: Should Mr. Hayes, as a sole member of the board of the SFPA, support stakeholders in their view that commercially sensitive information coming into the hands of the authority should and must not be shared public other than in accordance with the law?

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

Michael Collins: Are the data held by the SFPA not subject to the laws on the confidentiality of data and data protection of both Ireland and the EU?

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

Michael Collins: Various data that come before the SFPA. Are they protected such that they do not get out to the general public?

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

Michael Collins: Could Mr. Hayes inform the committee about his appointment as head of the SFPA, having previously worked in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, to replace the outgoing Dr. Susan Steele, who sat on the interview panel? How many more candidates were interviewed?

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

Michael Collins: ...questions earlier. As Deputy Pringle noted, there is a bit of time to resolve this if there is to be any hope for the future of many fishermen. There are talks about transfer of ownership. The SFPA is waiting for the sector to come back to it about that and it is a possibility. Mr. Hayes said that if there is a solution, the SFPA would have found it. To me, though, making fishmeal out...

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

Michael Collins: ...as the Minister did not accept the previous amendment. This amendment will increase the period of time to 60 days to allow a submission in writing to be made to the panel, from the date of notification from the SFPA. That is not an unreasonable ask. It is just 30 days more than the Minister is giving in the first place. These fishermen are out on the water. Many of them are working...

Seafood Taskforce Final Report: Statements (9 Dec 2021)

Michael Collins: ...tonnes were caught by EU vessels in 2020? We have less than 1% of the fish caught in Europe. Whoever wrote the Minister's report and speech should be retired. Is he aware that the European Commission has written to the SFPA asking about breaches of landing obligations? It is threatening to withdraw millions in funding for our national Naval Service. Is there anyone listening to the...

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

Michael Collins: ...Is there a general acceptance that Europe can get any quota it wants, but Ireland cannot get the quota? What is wrong? Where is the weakness here? Do we need changes in the Department from the top to the bottom? Do we need to look at the SFPA? Where are the supports for the fishermen? They have not been there to date, and the fishermen feel it and understand it. They are losing...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Michael Collins: ...or the people who want to fell forestry. It is held up all the way back to the person who wants to sow forestry. There is no confidence among the public in relation to forestry sowing. In fisheries, €4.9 million was saved, while SFPA stated it had savings of €2 million. It is a tough time for fishermen. Bar the decommissioning and talk of €1 million on the fleet...