Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests from the fishing organisations in various parts of the country. No one knows more than they do the catastrophic crisis the industry faces. The issue greatly affects my constituency, so I welcome their contributions to the meeting.

The Minister stated when the deal was done that it was a fair one. I was astonished when I heard that. He stated that there would be losses of €34 million, but it now transpires that the losses could be anything up to €43 million. Our guests might comment on that.

I asked the Minister the following question but he did not give a clear answer. Has the Government given any indication to our guests' organisations whether it has any ready-made jobs to replace the ones we are guaranteed to lose? There has been much talk about the task force, and task forces are fine and great, but the crisis is here and now. Approximately 60% of the cuts will emerge in 2021, so the impact will be felt immediately. No matter how good the task force is, it will not resolve the crisis that we face now. Mr. Murphy of the ISWFPO might be able to answer some of those questions. Is tourism our way out? Is that what the Government has in mind to replace these jobs? What is the indication from the Department, if any?