I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is an issue I am very familiar with as a result of his continued lobbying. I had an opportunity to meet with the Deputy and some representatives of the fishing community who use Burtonport Harbour. All work in relation to Ireland's exclusive fisheries zone comprises law enforcement matters for the Irish control authorities. Under the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006, all operational matters concerning sea-fisheries control are, as a matter of law, exclusively for the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority. It is effectively in charge of the entire operation there. The Naval Service is involved as well. Under the Act, I am precluded from getting involved in operational matters. When it comes to the designation of the port, I understand that is the competency of the Department and Minister concerned. As I have delegated powers in that regard, it is my responsibility. UK fishing vessels, including Northern Irish vessels, had a pattern of landings into many Irish ports prior to the UK's withdrawal from the EU. In the post-Brexit period, UK vessels are now considered as third country vessels. County Donegal has the most landings by smaller Northern Ireland fishing vessels into smaller ports to which they traditionally landed. Killybegs and Castletownbere have been designated for third country landings for some time. In 2021, Burtonport, Rathmullen, Greencastle, Howth and Ros an Mhíl were designated as ports for third country landings also. In 2023, three new ports in County Donegal — Bunagee, Glengad and Malin Head — as well as Dunmore East, were designated for landing of UK-registered Northern Ireland vessels. In addition, the opening hours in Greencastle were extended. The four newly designated ports were additional to the seven ports already designated. There are significant practical and cost implications for the State in the designation of EU ports for third country landings. Under EU regulations, such designations represent an entry point to the European Union, following which food is free to circulate within the full EU Common Market. On this basis, for any ports designated, Ireland is obliged to ensure that it has in place a meaningful control presence. The current ports designated and the opening days and times for those ports were decided to allow for Northern Ireland registered vessels to continue to land into Irish ports, while ensuring that the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, has the capacity to continue to perform its vital control functions effectively. The authority has advised that additional resources would be required in order to extend the operational hours for Burtonport. On that basis, the SFPA has been asked to submit a business case to the Department on this matter, and any additional resources that may be required at Greencastle. All business cases are assessed on their own merits once submitted. Any additional headcount that may be sought by the SFPA will require sanction from both our Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. I also assure the Deputy that the designation of ports for landings does not preclude vessels from coming into ports for force majeure reasons, such as safe harbour. I take on board the issue he raised, and I will try to have that investigated. I have set out for him the facts as they are and will answer some of his specific questions. Paschal Hayes, as the Deputy knows, submitted his decision to retire some time ago. There will be a public competition to replace that third member of the authority, but in answer to the Deputy’s question regarding who is now in charge, I intend to appoint in an acting capacity one of the two remaining members of the commission in the coming days. I will keep him updated on that.

Sentiment score: 0.17

I assure the Deputy that I will make every effort to ensure that he does not have come in and be as passionate as he is about this issue. It is something that I am aware of. I am working to try to find a resolution. I take the Deputy's point about the language that is sometimes used to set out the reasoning, with terms such as "business case", "headcount" and "personnel". Having travelled the road in the Deputy's presence, it is clear to me that there is an issue here that has to be resolved. I commit to doing my best to try to get it resolved as quickly as possible. It is a fair ask. I do not believe it is unreasonable, and I certainly do not believe that the costs should be prohibitive taking everything into consideration. The Deputy should be assured of my effort to try to resolve this in so far as is possible and as quickly as possible. I thank him again.

Sentiment score: 0.38