Fisheries: Northern Ireland

Mr. McGrady
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development on the upcoming fisheries negotiations in Brussels; and whether an agreed strategy has been drawn up.

Jonathan Shaw
I have had a number of recent discussions with the Northern Ireland Minister and her Welsh and Scottish counterparts about the forthcoming negotiations and we have just agreed a series of UK priorities for them, reflecting our respective interests. We will revisit them in the light of the Commission proposals when these emerge.