Christy O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 14: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to submit to the EU Commission Ireland's position in relation to the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36071/09]

John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 15: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is in a position to respond to the EU Commission Green Paper on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36079/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 15 together as they cover similar ground.

As you are all probably aware at this stage, the European Commission published a Green Paper last April on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. The launch of this paper was aimed at stimulating broad public debate on the future of the CFP ahead of the next review of the Policy, scheduled for 2012. The Policy, which was first put in place in 1983, has been subject to reviews every 10 years. The most recent review was in 2002. The Commission hopes that the consultation process initiated by the Green Paper will provide feedback from Member States and stakeholders on the CFP that will guide the Commission's work on the upcoming review of the Policy. All Member States, including Ireland, have been invited to submit written comments by 31 December 2009.

I, along with Minister of State Tony Killeen strongly believe that this review must be informed by the views of our stakeholders, so that a clear and robust Irish position can be developed. Following the publication of the Green Paper, Minister of State Killeen appointed Dr. Noel Cawley to oversee the consultation process with Irish stakeholders. Dr. Cawley is actively seeking the views of all stakeholders in order to ensure that the Irish submission on the reform of the CFP is as detailed and comprehensive as possible. Following advertisements in the National and Fishery Newspapers, a web portal was set up on the Fishing Net website for the public at large to electronically submit their observations on the CFP. I would urge those who wish to contribute to the debate to use this facility so their individual concerns and comments can be considered before our response to the Commission on the Green Paper is finalised.

To discuss the reform of the CFP directly with the fishermen themselves, Minister of State Killeen – along with Dr Cawley – attended a series of meetings around the country at the end of August. He talked with fishermen about what changes they would like to see made to the CFP, and he listened closely to their views as they are best placed to understand the current Policy's problems and shortcomings. Further meetings involving stakeholders, including processors, environmental NGOs and the aquaculture sector are planned during the next couple of weeks. The outcome of these meetings will be compiled by Dr Cawley into a formal report and this will inform Ireland's national position during the CFP review.

In addition to these efforts, the Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF) has undertaken a process to develop its position on the matter. The result of its deliberations will feed into Dr Cawley's work programme and the formation of Ireland's position on the review. The FIF held a conference on the CFP review on Friday, 9 October, at the Radisson Hotel, Dublin Airport. At this seminar a large gathering of fishermen from all around the country listened to contributions from a broad range of experienced experts in the field of fisheries.

As I mentioned earlier, our written comments on the reform of the CFP must be submitted to the Commission by the end of the year. The Commission will then publish a summary of its consultations with Member States in 2010. This will be followed by a legislative proposal to the Council and the European Parliament to be adopted in 2011, with a view to its entering into force in 2012. It has been acknowledged across the EU Member States that the current CFP has not worked effectively and that a complete overhaul of the Policy is necessary. We are in full agreement with the view that fisheries management needs to be simplified. New measures are required that will involve fishermen more directly with the Policy while improving its ability to sustain and rebuild the fish stocks upon which our industry is dependant.

From an Irish perspective, our long-term priority is to have a strong, sustainable and profitable seafood industry that supports fishing and related economic activities in our coastal communities. These communities need to maintain jobs in the catching, supply and processing sectors. To do that, they need to maintain their access to the marine resources in our waters. Our coastal communities and family-owned fleet have traditionally been sustained by our available national quotas. Those quotas were granted under the CFP as public goods to the Member States, based on traditional levels of activity in Member States' fleets and for the purpose of protecting those fleets and those communities. In Ireland these have, over the last quarter century, been distributed as public goods to meet seasonal, regional and local needs of our fleet.

Without access to quotas, our fleet and local fishing ports would wither and die. Therefore, as part of the reform process, we need to ensure that our fishing fleet's future access to resources is sustained. This access to resources also will need to grow substantially as stocks are rebuilt. It is vitally important that the reform of the CFP does not (as some would want and are actively pressing for) result in large European fishing companies being able to accumulate concentrations of fish quotas and fishing effort to the detriment of family-owned fleets and traditional coastal communities.

While not wanting to pre-empt the outcome of the consultations, our purpose must be to create and retain jobs and industrial opportunities in our Coastal areas. This imperative is doubly important given the current economic climate. I believe that to maintain the social and economic fabric of these communities, quotas and fishing effort should be retained at a national level and in public ownership. Suggestions that promote internationalisation, Individual Transferable Quotas, transferable effort and the concentration of activity amongst large European companies would, I feel, be counter productive and would ultimately result in the loss of jobs for our local coastal economies.

In Ireland, our fishing communities are dependant on all elements of the fleet, both large and small. Hence we do not accept the view put forward by some that only small inshore fleets are socio-economically important and that the larger fleets and the resources they access can be internationalised into a "European" fleet. Indeed, in Ireland a large proportion of onshore employment in the seafood sector is dependant on the largest vessels operating from, and landing into, Irish ports. This is critical in areas such as Donegal and the South West. If those vessels and those quotas were transferred away from the country, or into freezer vessels, Ireland would lose a large part of the economic benefit and jobs it derives from the seafood sector. We will endeavour to protect against this happening in the Reform Process.

Ireland shoulders a large burden in relation to the management and the policing of the CFP in our zone. This was recognised in the founding documents of the CFP, and was set out as a consideration in the unanimous Hague Declaration in 1976 which granted Ireland the Hague Preferences as part of the integral structure of the CFP. In return for this, Ireland gave its support for the extension of the Exclusive Economic Zone's of the European States to 200 miles, thus enabling the birth of the CFP. In the intervening decades, Ireland has done its part in administering the CFP in our zone. As long as we retain a viable fishing industry, with access to the vital resources in our waters, we will to the best of our ability continue to fully protect and sustain the stocks in our area and administer a reformed CFP that ensures the future prosperity of our seafood sector at sea and on land.

The Reform of the CFP is a major issue for all of Europe and we in Ireland are committed to working closely with the FIF, other stakeholders, our Member State colleagues and the Commission to strengthen the Policy for the betterment of fisheries as a whole and the traditional coastal communities which are dependant on it. We will work to have a Common Fisheries Policy that takes account of the unique structure of the Irish fishing industry.