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

At 5.30 p.m. yesterday, the committee engaged with the chief executives of four producer organisations, namely, the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, the Irish South and East Fish Producers Organisation, the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation and the Irish Fish Producers Organisation. I do not know from where the Minister has such a chirpy assessment of his task force report. I assume he was very busy yesterday but perhaps he will get a chance to watch a recording of yesterday's proceedings and listen to the testimony of these leaders in the fishing industry. They were certainly not delighted with the outcome under which it is proposed to decommission one third of the remaining offshore fleet of vessels of more than 18 m.

That figure is 60 out of 180. In 2006, we had approximately 280 vessels, over 18 m, fishing offshore. After this package, we will be down to almost one third of that figure. In the space of 15 years, our fishing fleet, which had been over 18 m fishing offshore will be down to one third of what it was. Even still, the Minister does not accept that there has been a decline, or the assessment in the industry. It is a disaster.

The problem with the Minister’s senior officials overseeing a process of decommissioning and where understandably fishermen who are burdened with huge loans do not see any future in the industry, have no faith in their political leaders, get to get their fair share of the fish in their own waters, have decided they need to exit the industry. I have to say, who could blame them? Let us not say that this is anything other than what it is: an absolute disgrace. It is shameful that we are down to one third of the fleet that we had in 2006. It is one third over 18 m of fish offshore.

I toured the piers and harbours, like the Minister did, over the last year. I have met fishermen from one end of the country, right round to the other. They have no faith in those who are in decision-making, be they in the Department or in politics. They have not had any faith in a long time. They believe that out of the Irish exclusive economic zone we get the quotas that are allocated under the Common Fisheries Policy. To be clear, what is allocated under the Common Fisheries Policy to those in the Irish fishing fleet is estimated at 15% of what is available. Some 85% goes to the fishing fleet of other member states. Britain has secured 75% of the fish in its waters for the fishing fleet around its coast. I am not arguing for 75%. I am arguing for our fair share. I appreciate that we are within the European Union. I appreciate that there is give and take when one is involved in trade. We export 90% of our beef from Ireland. I therefore appreciate that there has to be access to those waters around us for all of the fleets of the European Union. However, we want our fair share.

I ask the Minister if he will do more than have a vote at the European Council? Will he ask the Taoiseach to join with him to go on a fact delivery process across Europe to tell them the story of what is happening in our waters? It has been happening in our waters. Our fleet, over 18 m, under this scheme that the Minister put forward is down to one third of what it was 15 years ago. The decline is there for all to see. People have no choice. I want to ask the Minister to at least watch the video back from yesterday of the testimony of those who were there. The Minister should remember that he has met fishermen online, upfront and all around the coast, as have I. As an industry, it is heartbreaking. Cyprus and Ireland are the only island nations in the European Union now. This is an immense resource all around us. It has to be managed sustainably. It does not make sense not to manage that resource sustainably. We are talking about a fair share of the fish in that immense resource all around us.

I am telling the Minister straight that if he thinks that the producer organisations and fishermen are happy with this outcome, then he is living in cloud cuckoo land. That is the straight truth. He should lift the phone to all of them tomorrow and ask them about it. He should listen to the testimony that they gave yesterday. It was with a heavy heart that they came forward. The only representative who made any positive assessment of it was Mr. Seán O’Donoghue from the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation.

Financial supports and investment in piers and harbours are welcome, but where does this come from? We were given €1 billion of the €5 billion available under the Brexit adjustment reserve fund to reflect the serious impact of Brexit on us. How can we ask for our fair share of the fish in our waters? If I were a minister in France, the Netherlands, Belgium or Spain, I would tell Ireland that it had already received money to decommission its fleet and ask why it needed a bigger share of the catch when it does not have enough boats to avail of a bigger share. Does the Minister not understand the logic of that position? If he proposes to make redundant and decommission a high percentage of our fleet, how can he, on the other hand, argue for more fish when there are fewer boats to catch the fish? If he has no plan to invest in the fleet, how can the fleet catch more fish? The truth is that fisherman around the coast feel deeply betrayed. They feel angry at yet another decommissioning and tie-up scheme. They want the Government to say out loud what is happening.

I ask the Minister again to convene a meeting with the chief executives of the four producer organisations I mentioned, the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation, which is a new PO, all the leaders and perhaps members of the task force and agree on the percentage of fish in our waters that we are giving away? What is the actual percentage? I am looking at the 2020 stock book from the Marine Institute. I see our figure versus the EU figure. It is in the stock book. Comparing the 2021 stock book versus the 2020 stock book, it seems there was a dramatic reduction in the quota and catch in 2021.

We first need to agree on what the problem is. I need the Minister and his senior Department officials to sit down with the industry and agree together. If the industry says we are getting 15% of the catch in our waters and the Minister says, as he did today, that we are getting 35%, what chance do we have to succeed? If I were a French, German, Dutch, Belgian or Spanish minister and the Irish people were making the case for their coastal communities on the basis that they are getting 15%, whereas the Minister says they are actually getting 35%, I would not be worried about having to address the quota shortage or the injustice of all of this. As a Minister of one of those countries, I would not be worried because the Department here is saying we are getting more than twice as much as what our own fisherman are saying. The Minister needs to get on the same page. I appreciate that has to be based on demonstrable data. The Minister and everyone else need to agree on that and get it because it is a huge problem.

The Minister said in the Dáil today that we are getting about 35% of the fish in our own waters. That is what he is being advised and what he said today. That is his negotiating starting point. Our fishermen do not believe that for one moment. This needs to be ironed out. The Minister has toured the country, as have I, and I am telling him now that is where it is at. I ask him to please listen to the testimony given at yesterday's meeting in order that he knows exactly where the Irish fishing industry stands on this.