Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank both witnesses for their presentations. I was born, reared and grew up in a coastal community and spent part of my life involved in the fishing sector and with a small farm. Therefore, I am acutely aware of the current situation and the disgraceful policies that have been pursued for political interests over decades. Senator Ó Domhnaill mentioned one of these, the salmon fishing industry. I remember that debate and remember the arguments being made here that the policy being pursued was madness, because in closing down one sector we were automatically putting pressure on other sectors, such as crayfish and lobster fishermen and gill netting. This is exactly what happened. People who were involved in the salmon sector moved on to the other sectors and now we have huge pressure in those sectors.

The issues come down to policy and social sustainability. The template in regard to regulating the situation is the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, which is concerned with the integrated conservation of fish stocks, with sustainable exploitation of resources. However, there is no mention of equity and distribution. We are all aware that two areas of the fishing sector currently are in the hands of fewer than 50 people. Where is the equity in that regard? Where is the equity if we make multimillionaires out of 23 people and close down other sectors and pauperise people involved in white fishing? We have a situation in our coastal communities currently where if we had a proper managed policy directed by fairness and equity, we would have a fantastic sector that would include onshore investment and an onshore workforce that would complement those communities and keep them vibrant.

The reality is totally different. For example, when the Tit Bonhomme sank early last year, four out of the six crew members on board were non-nationals. Fishing boats have huge running costs and fishermen do not receive the prices to which they are entitled for prime fish. There are also huge costs for insurance and to ensure observance of the code of practice. These costs make it unviable for young Irish people to work offshore. There is no incentive for them to do so as they cannot get a reasonable or decent income. That is the state of our fishing sector. If the sector was managed properly and we had structured onshore processing on a national basis, not just in places like Killybegs, we could provide incomes for people onshore, complementing the work done offshore.

I cannot understand the situation. Approximately 16% of the fishing grounds are off our coast, yet we are only entitled to 4% of the quota from those waters. This does not make sense. I wonder whether the political will ever existed to try to obtain fairness and equity in this regard. I applaud the witnesses on trying to create equity within the system. That is the way to go. However, if the political will is not there to do it, we can have all the policies we want, but it will not happen. I hope that those with power now will use that power for the common good. However, in my lifetime the common good has never existed within the fishing sector. The methodology around the fishing sector has created individualisation. Policy has all been about trying to get something for oneself, not about what is best for communities and our people. That is why 23 people own the mackerel quota of this country, a State asset. That is not right. Others could say more about this than I can. However, it is not right that successive Governments stand over this situation.

Mention was made of the principle of impact assessments. I agree these are required, but what happens afterwards? Is there flexibility to correct the inequalities and wrongs? Are there teeth enough to drive this forward? I do not see that happening currently. Dr. Hynes spoke about marine tourism and said there was a huge opening for it. I concur with that. I have been in Clare where a group there is doing fantastic work. It is one of the most professional operations in the country. I visited the project during the year, but its name escapes me now. There is huge potential nationally, but it needs to be marketed here and abroad. If that happened, it would help coastal communities, providing them with spending power which would have a knock-on effect in other areas.

Our coastal communities lack spending power currently and are hit by huge emigration. There are areas in south Kerry and west Cork, which were traditionally strong GAA areas, but now due to emigration, they are amalgamating clubs to field teams. A whole generation of people are leaving these communities, leaving them with an imbalance. There is a disparity now in these communities between the number of males and females and a disparity in ages, with most people being either under 18 or older than 35. The generation in between has left, bringing huge consequences in these areas in terms of social sustainability.

I thank the witnesses for their enlightening presentations, which I hope everybody will take on board. Perhaps if the proposals became part of policy and were driven politically as policy, we would be in a better place.