Results 1-20 of 33 for sfpa segment:7937747

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

Michael Collins: ..., with the weighing situation. Fishermen have contacted me from south-west Cork and from along the coastline, all the way to Donegal. Representatives of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, appeared before the committee on 20 April. I think they were either misleading us or they were mistaken because they said they were in consultation with the industry in relation to all...

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: ...to revoke the control plan, and that is the position it was in. The Commission's final decision would have been communicated to us at the same time as the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA. Obviously, that was a Commission decision and not one which the SFPA would have decided on. It was one which followed on from administrative inquiry the Commission carried out. The main...

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: ...in dealing with the new situation. Some interim time was provided - I think it runs until 1 June 2021 - following on from the revocation of the control plan for the competent authority, which is SFPA, to engage with fishers and processors and to respond to and deal with the new situation. That is what has been happening since this revocation.

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

Michael Collins: ...we were in in relation to the weighing of fish until a solution is found to which everybody agrees? The second question concerns the PwC report in 2020, which was damning. The head of the SFPA is now heading off to a big job in Europe. Was it right for that person to be involved in this audit and that that person had applied for or got such a position, given the timing of the revoking...

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: ...around this are set by the European Commission and, under the Common Fisheries Policy, there is an obligation on each member state, through the relevant competent authorities, in our case the SFPA, to apply those regulations. We are legally obliged to comply with them under the Common Fisheries Policy and every member state must do the same. The control plan was put in place in 2012...

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)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy. Ireland is a member state within the European Union and, as a country, we represent our industry and our sector. Domestically, the SFPA is the competent authority for enforcement and applying and overseeing the Common Fisheries Policy and the regulations within that. It is clear and is public knowledge that the Commission has publicly published its findings from 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)

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: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: ...that the revocation of our control plan represents for the sector, particularly the white fish sector, which are very difficult indeed. The committee had a thorough discussion on this with the SFPA earlier in the week. Operational matters relating to weighing coming under its remit, not mine as Minister. Legally I am precluded from being involved in operational matters, and as an...

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

Paul Kehoe: ...by the recent proposal. All of the people in the industry who sent me emails and made phone calls said that they were fully compliant with the new regulations, they were heavily regulated by the SFPA, there had been major changes over the past ten, 15 or 20 years - they were not happy with all of those changes, but they waded in behind them - and their costs had increased. Now, they are...

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 the Deputy knows, I cannot get into the ins and outs of the weighing and operational matters because those are matters for the SFPA. The committee had an engagement with the SFPA this week and it is open to the committee to have a more detailed engagement with the authority on this matter. Our challenge is that the European Commission is the overall authority for setting regulations 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 matter Deputy Browne raised regarding prosecutions etc. needs to be addressed to the SFPA directly. To make a general point, we have across the country fishers and so many others working in our fishing sector, which employs 16,000 overall and is worth €1 billion to our economy. It is such an important sector, has a really strong and sustainable future and can add value but also...

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 would be an operational matter for the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, which is the competent authority there.

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

Verona Murphy: With due respect to the Minister, it is the competent authority but this is something that relates to Ireland. This report did not go back to the SFPA, it came back to the Irish Government. Is it fair to say that it is actually up to the Minister to fund the SFPA and to put the control mechanism in place? The SFPA is already in receipt of millions of euros. In the past two years it has...

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: ...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 control of these regulations. Resourcing of the SFPA, national policy, and the provision of resources, is a matter...

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

Verona Murphy: No. I ask the Minister to go back for a minute. Is the Minister saying that the SFPA is in charge of enforcement?

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

Verona Murphy: To whom is the SFPA answerable?

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)

Verona Murphy: On that basis, was the report issued from Europe to the SFPA?

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

Verona Murphy: However, it is not carrying out infringement proceedings against the SFPA, is it?