Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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459. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way the terms of reference of the Review of the Common Fisheries Policy were decided by his Department; the way the terms of reference will influence the negotiating position of Ireland in the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10526/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) Regulation (Regulation EU 380/2013) provides that the European Commission will report to the European Parliament and the Council on the functioning of the CFP by the end of 2022.

On 17th December 2021, the European Commission launched an online questionnaire as part of its public consultation on the preparation of this report. The questionnaire has been circulated to Member States and the Advisory Councils and is also publicly available so that all stakeholders and members of the public may contribute.

The Commission advise that it will work over the coming period to engage with Member states and stakeholders and will hold a stakeholder event before the summer of 2022.

On 9 February, I established a national Common Fisheries Policy Review Group to examine the issues that arise for Ireland in the context of the CFP Review, to advise me on priorities for the negotiations and to identify strategies most likely to influence the outcome of the review. I have invited fisheries stakeholder groups, including Producer Organisations, the National Inshore Fisheries Forum, the Aquaculture industry, Co-Ops, the Seafood processing industry and environmental NGOs, to nominate a representative to this group.

The CFP Review Group will be chaired by Mr John Malone, former Secretary General of the Department of Agriculture. Mr. Malone will be assisted by a steering committee comprising Mr Micheál Ó Cinnéide, former Director of the Marine Institute and Environmental Protection Agency and Mr Donal Maguire, former Director in BIM. I have asked the Review Group to complete its work by June to ensure that Ireland’s priorities are clearly set out and inputted into the formal Commission process.

I set out in my announcement the Terms of Reference to help focus the work of the Group, given the short timeframe involved, and to build on the work done by the Seafood Sector Taskforce, which delivered its final report to me last October.