Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It was useful, to say the least, to have all the various organisations here today and to have all the perspectives put in front of us. I will start with voisinageand the Bill that the Minister has introduced.

It is alarming that there is a piece of legislation introduced by the Minister on the back of a Supreme Court decision and every single organisation here today has said that it was not consulted on it. That has profound implications for sectors of the fishing communities around the coast. Even if one looks at the questions from the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, that list of questions is entirely pertinent. Why did nobody in the Department of the Agriculture, Food and the Marine think about those questions before the Minister introduced the legislation? I am genuinely stunned the more I learn about the implications of how this has been implemented over the years and that is why the question from Deputy McConalogue is an important one. Obviously, they have come here today and made a submission based on their experience of how this has operated. I am conscious that a number of families and businesses were forced to go to the Supreme Court. That is the only reason this is now being reviewed. I want to get their perspective because this is an opportunity for a frank exchange here today. What is their perspective on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine that introduced this legislation? Is this a unique scenario or is this now a cultural issue with the Department? Are they drafting legislation that is in the interests of fishing communities across the State?

I was alarmed when this came before the Seanad, the more I learned about it. I am shocked today at what every fishing organisation that has presented here has said and what its thoughts are about this Bill. What was said to us in the Seanad was that we needed to reinstate good faith before the Brexit negotiations took place and almost in tandem with that we had an announcement from the British Prime Minister, Mrs. Theresa May, that the UK was pulling out of the London fisheries convention. What the hell is going on that we have the top people in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine so completely out of touch with our own fishing community and with our fishing organisations? It is humiliating that there was legislation that we are discussing here today put before the Seanad that will have such a detrimental impact and that these organisations were not consulted.

I accept it is an extremely loaded question, but how can I avoid it based on the evidence given to this committee today? I would like to get the thoughts of everyone present on the state of affairs and what sort of job the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is doing on behalf of our people. It has serious implications, based on today's meeting. In terms of the quota issues, my colleague, Deputy Martin Ferris, will deal with them and put questions to the organisations. However, it is clear what the organisations think of the Bill. All of them think the Bill should be put aside at this time. How did we get to this situation? How did we get to a situation where there is legislation that is so poorly drafted with such serious implications? Am I too judgmental or correct in my assessment of their evidence today?