Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I recall the presentations the witnesses made as part of this committee's work in assessing the impact of Brexit on our agriculture, food and marine sectors. I remember very well the stark warnings they gave. I also remember the presentation they made in recent months, and here we are today.

I want to talk about the task force. Mr. O'Donoghue is right that we have to get to get down to business immediately and deal with the various crises, but we also have to plot a future for the industry. We will need to have a united voice in that regard. We have to agree what our call will be. When we go to the European Union, what is it that we want from our Government? What approach do we want to the Common Fisheries Policy? All those issues have to be dealt with by the task force. I have heard reference to the figure for financial compensation This committee should reject any proposals on decommissioning, but financial supports will be required in the short term to deal with the impact. I was speaking to the Foyle Fishermen's Co-operative Society in Donegal yesterday and in recent days and the impact of this on them is up to one third of their income. They have just invested €3 million in their new building on the harbourside in Greencastle. The repayments on that will not be sustainable if they are to lose one third of their income. That is the scale of the immediate crisis.

We have obtained over €1 billion as part of the Brexit fund. My understanding is that only €113 million of this money is for the fishing sector. Do the witnesses agree that we need a much bigger share of that €1 billion for the sector? Do they also agree that the task force needs to reach agreement on how we will get that to those who are most in need? There is nobody better placed than the witnesses, as representative of the entire industry, to understand that. Third, should that task force outline with a united voice from the fishing industry a direction to all of us in politics what it is they want and what it is we need to do for them to fight for them? Do the witnesses agree with those three points?