Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the three men from the National Inshore Fishermen's Association. Something has to be acknowledged first. In my experience of fishing, the inshore, smaller guys were totally disunited historically. It is great to see them coming forward as a national organisation. I wish the organisation well and every success.

When I was a young fellow growing up, I would hear it said that the small boats must stay near the shore and the bigger vessels can venture our further. That is the difficulty the fishermen here have. If they go out more than five or six miles from the shore, and I say this in a positive way, they are out of their depth. I was listening attentively. Most of these issues could be resolved by the Government and the Department. We cannot blame the EU here. It is a bit of small tweaking of the pelagic quota that the inshore men are looking for, going from 1%, say, to 5%. What difference would that make to the inshore lads? We may not be able to resolve issues with the market. I have been around politics for nearly 40 years. I would put my hands up and say the political system has failed the fishermen.