Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not wish to rehash everything that has been said. My view is that decommissioning is a last resort but, unfortunately, in some instances we have to go down that road. I live in a place called Schull, which is quite close to where Deputy Michael Collins is from. I am probably the oldest around here. I remember a day when there were probably ten trawlers fishing out of Schull and there is now one small one left there. Coastal communities, whether in the Beara Peninsula or, as Patrick Murphy said, at places like Union Hall and Baltimore, have seen the signs. Decommissioning, in one sense, might be an easy buck for some people who want to get out of it but the damage to the coastal communities is very real and substantial. The compensation package I have looked at and studied, in simple terms, is not adequate and is not enough. It is the end of an era for families and for communities, and I believe that should be seriously looked at.

The area of quotas under the Common Fisheries Policy, going back historically to 1973, has been an issue. I was elected a councillor in Cork in 1985 and I worked with others to set up a coastal management committee. Seán O'Donoghue and myself go back a long way. What I am hearing today from the POs is something similar, except it is more sophisticated now. Unfortunately, the fishing industry has contracted. I hate to see more damage done to the fishing communities around the country. I must put my hand up on some of the representations I made. I always spoke up for fishermen but we did not have the success that I would like to have seen over the years. We are now at a crisis point and, unfortunately, unless we put up a brave fight in Europe, whether it be the Taoiseach or the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as somebody said, we are showing the white flag or, to use another term or train of thought, we are throwing in the towel.

That is what I wanted to say. I have listened to many POs. I heard most of it before I had to run for the vote. I do not want to delay the meeting further. It was informative and I have no doubt that the POs will lobby together on this issue. I do not doubt that and I wish them success. Hopefully, what they are saying will not fall on deaf ears.