asked the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry if he is aware of the difficulties being experienced by fishermen due to reduced fish quotas and the steps he proposes to take to overcome this problem.

With the exception of one or two species where the quotas have been reduced slightly, quotas generally have either remained at a constant level or have increased slightly over the last couple of years. My colleague, Deputy O'Toole, Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, is at present attending a Council of Fisheries Ministers in Brussels and he will be endeavouring in the course of negotiations to secure the maximum quotas possible for our fishermen, particularly in the case of mackerel where the EC Commission has proposed reductions for 1986 having regard to the scientific advice available.

While the Minister of State maintains that the fish quotas might remain constant, the most important which constitutes 60 per cent of fish landings, that of mackerel, was reduced last year from 85,000 to 80,000 tonnes. Will he accept that this reduction cannot be accepted, that it is preventing the development of the industry in an already depressed part of the country? What efforts are the Government making to ensure that we get increased quotas and not reduced or constant quotas?

As I explained in the answer, my Minister, Deputy O'Toole, is in Brussels negotiating this quota and I hope that he can have a good outturn at those negotiations.

This is a final supplementary.

Politicians on this side of the House have been blamed this week for not securing sufficient quotas. Would the Minister of State accept that the basis of the Hague agreement of 1976 is of absolutely no advantage to us now? It suggested that quotas would double but this has not happened.

The Hague agreement was one of the best agreements the fishermen in this country ever got. The terms of the agreement were to the benefit of the fishing industry here as a whole. The situation in respect of mackerel is serious and I hope at this stage that the reduction here will not be too great.

This is a final supplementary.

Is the Minister of State aware that the catch of mackerel has decreased by about 20,000 tonnes since he went into office? In 1982 the mackerel catch was in the region of 100,000 tonnes and this year it will be 86,000 tonnes. Does the Minister of State seriously expect us to believe that we can get any adequate increase with the attitude he has been adopting in the last few days?

I do not accept that it has decreased by 20,000 tonnes since we came into office.

I ask him to give the figures for the last four years.

I have the catch figures for 1984 and 1985 and the proposals for 1986. In 1984 we had 85,000 tonnes and in 1985 we had 80,000 tonnes and we got 6,000 further tonnes from the British making the total 86,400 tonnes.

What was the catch in 1982-83?

I have not got those figures.

We are getting selected figures.

As it is now after 3.30 p.m., in accordance with an Order of the House I must move to priority questions.

On a point of order, is it in order that the Department of Fisheries and Forestry and the Department of the Gaeltacht, who have limited enough time, should have suffered a loss of eight minutes because the Government were not present? Can you not extend that time now?

No, I am sorry. Ceist 26.