Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise an issue in relation to the seafood sector. There is great concern, particularly with the new regulations due to Brexit. What will the Minister do for the industry? It will need supports and backup. It is in real difficulty. I have raised this issue with the Minister before. There is an extra burden now from the red tape, not that Brussels is great at it. I was glad to see French farmers out. Maybe it is time Irish farmers came out because they are all destroyed with red tape. They are not able to farm. It is red tape, filling in forms, trying to keep to regulations and everyone on top of them trying to make them make a mistake. I see it with every scheme. People come to me about the slightest mistake and big money is taken from them. We are over-regulated by this country and Brussels. As I said before, the trouble with Brussels is there are so many thousands of people working there that it is an industry. Many of them are not farmers; they are just pure civil servants. They do not give a damn. They get up on Monday morning - they are like some of my own party members - and they think about how they can hurt people tomorrow. We need to look at over-regulation for farmers. What, in particular, can be done for the seafood industry? Those who supply the raw material were before the committee last week. They are under pressure and not getting their prices because the people exporting it are not able to export it. Great difficulty is coming down the line. What can be done for them? The budget for that area seems to be down this year.