Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators for their contributions. I will try to answer as many questions as I can, but Members should submit any I do not get to in writing and I will try to get to them in due course.

In terms of foreign landings, as I explained, Irish waters have significant fish stocks and the Irish fleet catches a certain percentage and volume - in the region of 17% to 20% - of those stocks. The remainder is caught by foreign fleets, including Dutch, Spanish, French, British, Portuguese and so on. That happens because Irish waters are seen in a European context and from a fishing perspective as European waters. As a member state of the EU, we have a responsibility in terms of sovereign territory, enforcement and so on. International fleets move between various different waters at European level and there have always been large Spanish, French and Dutch fishing fleets working in what are now Irish waters. In fact, Irish marine territory has expanded significantly since we joined the EU. There might be a debate to be had on another day about the historical context but people need to be realistic about what is possible. My job is to represent the industry on the basis of the facts and what is possible to do rather than pretending we can suddenly and fundamentally change the way in which quotas are allocated at an EU level. That is not going to happen any time soon.

Reference was made to the 78,000 tonnes of foreign landings. This is the portion of the 1.2 billion tonnes that we are encouraging to be landed into Irish ports for processing, grading and adding value in packaging and marketing in Irish processing facilities in places like Castletownbere, Rossaveal, Killybegs, Greencastle and so on. While we will continue to welcome foreign trawlers into Irish ports to increase economic activity there, my preference, of course, is to ensure Irish boats catch as much fish as they can sustainably and within the rules. After that, however, it makes sense for Ireland to position itself as a major fish processor internationally because we are surrounded by very fertile fishing grounds. It makes sense to encourage Spanish, Dutch and French boats to land close to where the fish are being caught, thereby generating income for Irish people.

I take the point that was made regarding Carlingford Lough. There are challenges in terms of making sure we have a credible and legally sound licensing system that includes the benefit of a full environmental assessment of the area concerned and of the impact of increased aquaculture activity in that area. We are trying, where possible, to move through all of the different harbours and bays that need to be assessed so that we can have that type of sound aquaculture licensing system. This applies to Carlingford Lough as to lots of other areas.

Senator Fidelma Healy Eames had several questions. First, I am not sure where the idea comes from that I am favouring the big guy. My style is to tell people the story as I see it rather than what they want to hear. When I wear my agriculture hat I am primarily about supporting farming and agriculture in this country, while as Minister with responsibility for the marine I have a primary focus on the fishing industry. We have worked very hard through both a Common Agricultural Policy process and a Common Fisheries Policy process to ensure those primary production sectors are well supported. I work night and day to that end. I am about to attend a meeting of the beef forum which will seek to resolve a range of issues for farmers and ensure we move away from protest and towards a focus on selling high-quality and fairly-priced produce into the marketplace. The bottom line is that we export almost 90% of everything we produce in food and drink and, as such, we must find a market outside of Ireland. Reputation, standards and cost competitiveness are important if we are to have a sound and growing industry. Within that, we must ensure there is fairness for primary producers.