Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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303. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the specific Council of EU Fisheries Ministers meetings at which he made the case for protecting Irish fishing interests during the UK’s two year exit phase from the EU and subsequent transition phase since taking office; the date of every such meeting at which this was raised, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11058/17]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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304. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the specific Council of EU Fisheries Ministers meetings at which he made the case to protect the current Hague preferences in future Brexit negotiations since taking office; the date of every such meeting at which this was raised, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11059/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to takes Questions Nos. 303 and 304 together.

There have been no formal discussions at the Council of Agriculture & Fisheries Minsters concerning Brexit to date. This is consistent with the overall EU position of not commencing negotiations before the invocation of Article 50 by the UK. In that context it would be inappropriate for Ireland or indeed any other Member State to raise the possible impact of Brexit upon their respective fishing industries within these particular meetings.

That said, there has been substantial work on analysis and scenario building relating to the  potential impact of Brexit on our seafood sector.  My Department, together with its agencies and stakeholders, has been considering all of the possible impacts of Brexit, looking at the areas where the greatest risks will arise and on which we will need to focus when the negotiations begin. Ensuring that our fishing interests are reflected in the overall EU negotiating position will be a key priority.

I have established a dedicated Brexit unit in my Department, and a consultative committee of stakeholders has been convened in order to ensure a full exchange of information as negotiations proceed.  My Department organised a dedicated Civic Dialogue on the Impact of Brexit for the Seafood Sector which was held last month.  This was an excellent and well attended engagement dealing with all of the potential issues and we will continue to have an ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders. Subsequent to that, I arranged for all of the main fisheries sector representatives to meet with An Taoiseach to outline their concerns and priorities.

I have had 3 separate meetings with Fisheries Commissioner Vella where I have discussed Ireland's concerns regarding Brexit as well as a number of key bilaterals with other Ministers, many more of which are planned in the coming weeks and months. In addition, my officials are in constant contact with their counterparts in the European Commission and relevant Member States. 

In all of these meetings I and my officials have stressed that, along with our other concerns, maintaining the Hague Preferences will be a key objective for Ireland. Every December we have to resist attempts by some Member States to  block the application of the Hague Preferences but as far as I am concerned they are an integral part of the CFP and I see no reason why Ireland should not continue to receive the same level of benefits from the Hague Preferences post Brexit.

I will remain in close contact with fisheries stakeholders as the issues develop and work with them, my fellow fisheries Ministers and the Commission to ensure that we are all fully prepared for what are likely to be extremely complex negotiations.