18 Jul 2012, 15:13
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine will meet with Minister Simon Coveney TD tomorrow Thursday 19 July for a briefing on the outcomes of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting which took place in Brussels on Monday.
This Committee meeting is rescheduled from Tuesday, in which the ongoing CAP talks and the question of overfishing of mackerel stocks were due to be raised.
Also on the agenda tomorrow will be the allocation of herring quota in Irish waters and the rates charged to fishermen using Fishery Harbour Centres around the Irish coast.
Chairman of the Committee Andrew Doyle TD says: “Our Committee has an important oversight role on the Government’s interaction with the European Union on policy related to agriculture and fisheries.
\"Minister Coveney’s presence tomorrow provides a timely opportunity for the Committee to explore with him the latest state of play in the Common Agricultural Policy talks. The Joint Committee on Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture held a series of meetings in recent months with Irish MEPs, Department officials and farming organisations on reform of the CAP.
“Reflecting the discussions, the Committee prepared a contribution to the European institutions which calls for a flexible and simplified CAP which will safeguard food supply, is environmentally sustainable and will foster indigenous job creation in the coming years. We look forward to an update and an opportunity to engage with Minister Coveney on CAP talks.
“The Committee will also hear from Minister Coveney on how his stance to defend Ireland’s mackerel interests was received at Council. The Irish fleet’s valuable quota has been seriously threatened with overfishing by Iceland and Faroe Islands in the past year. The Committee will be keen to question the Minister and Department officials on the allocation of the herring quota in Irish waters.”
This meeting will take place 10 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday 19 July in Committee Room 4, Leinster House 2000.
Committee proceedings can be followed live here.
Access Committee’s contribution on CAP reform.
Ends
For further information contact:
Paul Hand,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 6949926
F: +3531 618 4551
paul.hand@oireachtas.ie
Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine - Membership
Deputies:
Tom Barry, Fine Gael
Michael Colreavy, Sinn Féin
Pat Deering, Fine Gael
Andrew Doyle, Fine Gael
Martin Heydon, Fine Gael
Colm Keaveney, Labour
Michael McNamara, Labour
Michael Moynihan, Fianna Fáil
Thomas Pringle, Independent
Senators:
Michael Comiskey , Fine Gael
Paschal Mooney, Fianna Fáil
Pat O’Neill, Fine Gael
Mary Ann O’Brien, Independent
Brian Ó Domhnaill, Fianna Fáil
Susan O’Keeffe, Labour