Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Officials in the Department have put policies in place. What is the overall value of the catch taken from Irish waters, including by supertrawlers from all other nations? What percentage of that catch do we take and what has it been over all the years when we have been members of the European Union and the Common Fisheries Policy? The British have asserted their national interests and we need to assert ours. Our fishing communities around the coast are expecting this to happen. The transcript of the presentations by the various fishing organisations to which I referred are a damning indictment of the approach taken by Department officials. The organisation in question were not consulted about a very important piece of legislation. I believe the Minister acted in good faith and has good motives but when the British Government announced it was withdrawing from the London Fisheries Convention it was clear that our approach had to be much firmer. I am expecting more forthright language and more defence of our national interests in the time ahead.

The British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, MP, declared that the whole of Lough Foyle was within the United Kingdom. I secured a Seanad debate on this and the Minister of State said he had contacted the British Government but the issue has not been resolved and it makes the issue of fishing rights very complicated.

If the British are saying the whole of Lough Foyle is within the United Kingdom and if Britain is withdrawing from the London Fisheries Convention, the Minister will be aware that this will cause great alarm. I would like a firm statement from the Government on this matter. I appreciate that Irish Governments have always contested Britain's position on Lough Foyle and that the matter remains unresolved despite negotiations that have been ongoing for years. The Loughs Agency, for example, has not been given the powers it needs because these issues have not been resolved. I ask for a firm statement on the status of the issue.

I reiterate that I believe the Minister's motives and agenda are good in terms of the reasons for the legislation he drafts and the approach he has taken. He may not like to hear this but he should read the transcripts from the committee's meetings on the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill. They feature the public statements made by the fishing organisations. Can he imagine what they are saying to us in private about the officials tasked with defending Irish national interests in the areas of fisheries and the immense resource around our coast? I want the Minister to understand the level of anger on this issue and for the approach the fishing organisations have taken to the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill. That is the historical approach.

I look forward to the Minister's responses and ask him to listen to us. He must act not only on the threat of Brexit but also, strangely enough, the opportunity it presents in terms of reopening the entire discussion on the Common Fisheries Policy and the way in which the immense resources around our coast are divvied up.