Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, along with Minister of State Timmy Dooley TD have welcomed the positive outcome of today’s EU-UK summit for Ireland’s fisheries sector.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Minister Heydon said: “I strongly welcome the positive outcome of today’s EU-UK summit. For the Irish agri-food and fisheries sectors, the agreements reached between the EU and UK are of the utmost importance, and promise a fair and stable future relationship which will benefits these sectors in Ireland and in the UK. Recent trade tensions have led to concerns for our farmers, fishermen and food and drink businesses. Having certainty and stability with the UK as our key trading partner will be reassuring to all those in the agri-food and marine sectors”.
On fisheries, Minister Heydon commented: “The commitment to extend the reciprocal access for EU and UK vessels to fish in each other’s waters, with no change to existing quota shares, is welcome. Ireland’s fishermen and women require certainty in order to make sustainable, long-term decisions for their businesses. The significant time period covered by this agreement, up to June 2038, ensures that responsible sustainable fishing practices, as agreed between the EU and the UK, will continue. This is welcome news for all the fishermen and women who work hard to ensure the long-term sustainability of shared stocks”.
The Minister concluded: “I will closely follow progress on these SPS negotiations, and I hope that they will conclude successfully in as short a period as possible”.
Minister of State with responsibility for Fisheries and the Marine, Timmy Dooley TD, commented: “The agreement to extend the current arrangements between the EU and UK up to June 2038 provides very welcome long-term certainty for the Irish fishing sector. The agreement provides the Irish industry with the opportunity to continue to make strategic adjustments and investments into the future. This result reflects the mutual importance of the fishing industry and its communities to the economies of both the UK and the EU. The outcome reflects strong cooperation and unity of purpose between the eight Member States whose fisheries have been most impacted by Brexit, with support from the remaining Member States and the Commission”.
