Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)

I am not an expert on the fishing industry, even though I live beside the sea in County Wexford. However, I have seldom seen such consensus on a subject in this House as there is on the fishing industry. The Minister will have the support of everyone when he goes to Europe to try to get a fair deal. I have no doubt it will be very difficult for him. Mistakes have been made in the past. However, I do not agree with the theory that we should not look back at the past, because those who do not study their history are destined to repeat the mistakes.

It will be a struggle to change the arrangement with the European Union. Ireland has not had a fair deal in this regard. We have not only lost out on an industry with significant financial potential but serious damage is being caused to communities. This is a small island with a very long coastline for the size of the land mass. I refer to the culture of the communities built around these little ports. I live near Kilmore, Duncannon and Fethard-on-Sea. Everyone in the surrounding areas have traditionally found work in the industry, either dealing with landing the fish or going out on the boats, but this has been dwindling over time. The rules were changed, but not in the favour of these communities. Not only is an industry being destroyed, a whole way of life is threatened all along our coastline and it should instead be treasured.

Getting the Europeans to start treating us fairly, accepting that things were not done for the best in the past and achieving a more equitable arrangement is challenging. On the financial side, interest rates are slowly creeping up because the French, Germans and Dutch are wary of inflation, even though they know well that this is the last thing the countries on the periphery, such as Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy, need. Despite this, central Europe does what suits itself and it is doing very nicely. We are being forced to accept the policy that suits them. This notion of Europe being a family with all of us in together, and the notion that the big guy will help the small guy was how the Union began, and this is what we thought would happen. Sadly, it has not worked out that way. It would be great if the powers in Europe could bring themselves to apply a greater degree of fairness and could begin to treat the small individual countries like Ireland in a more fair manner.

Aside from the bad deal which Ireland has received, I note the wastage of fish in the discards policy, the practice of over-fishing and the fact that Europe must now import two thirds of its fish for consumption because there is such waste and the stocks have been killed through over-fishing which is being carried out to a ridiculous degree. We are depleting the oceans. It is like cutting down the forests in Brazil to make money on selling the wood, despite the fact that we are damaging the environment in a dramatic way.

It reminds me of a saying by a Cree native North American tribe that only when the last tree has died, the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money.

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