Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 23 November 2021

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed)

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I can understand why this amendment was tabled and although section 15 may not be the appropriate section for it, the Department and the Minister could have found a place for it in the Bill. Section 15 simply lays out the Long Title to the Bill. All legislation should have some review procedure within it and some method of reporting on its operation over time. That is vitally important and particularly so regarding the fishing industry. We need to debate it because it is going through a very difficult time at the moment. As Deputy Collins has said, in a couple of years' time we may not be having a debate at all because there will be nothing to talk about. The Government's attitude to the fishing industry and its position on it is made clear by the €66 million decommissioning scheme which will get rid of one third of the whitefish fleet. From this point on, the fleet will only be two thirds of its current size and next year we may be talking about another decommissioning scheme. That seems to be the height of the Government's response to, and focus on, the fishing industry which is sad and wrong. It is doing a disservice to fishing communities right across the country. The fishing industry has potential but only if the Government fights for it at European level to try to ensure that EU policies respond to our needs. It is sad to say that, as Deputy Collins outlined, Mr. Michel Barnier seems to have fought hard on behalf of the French fishing industry but let Ireland down. He was supposed to be negotiating on behalf of the entire EU. For that reason, I am taking this opportunity to speak to this amendment. It might not be in the right place but it should be accommodated in the Bill.

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