Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Thank you. I do not think there was a question from Deputy Ring. He mostly made comments. Given that Senator O’Donovan is attending the Seanad for a vote, I will make a comment before he returns. As Deputy Ring said, we will be bringing these points very forcefully to the Minister tomorrow. I am from an inland county but I can see that the witnesses have made their points extremely well. The four organisations have different perspectives on the issues but, in my view, they have put on a very unified front as to what needs to be done on Sunday and Monday. We will have the Minister before us tomorrow evening. I and other members will be very forcefully reinforcing what has been said to us this evening by the representatives of the fishing organisations, and we will very much reiterate what has been said. It is a crucial weekend for the fishing industry. Quotas are very hard to live with but when they are quotas of the reduced dimension that Irish fishermen have been forced to go on, it is very clear it will make their industry completely unviable.

The secretary has indicated that Mr. Murphy wants to come in. As Senator O'Donovan is now available, however, I will call on him to speak first.