Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)

I thank the gentlemen for their insight. We need them to come in more regularly to give us updates on what is going on in this area and to tell it like it is. The elephant in the room is that we have problems with the Department at home. We have to get those problems sorted. Europe is a problem. I agree with Deputy Mac Lochlainn. We had the Minister of State in here earlier and I asked him if he would send someone to Europe to lobby on our behalf. During the two days I was out there, I could see how the Dutch were working the room. The dog on the street knows what they are doing but we have nobody out there. On the day we were out there, at the last meeting we had that night, the people representing us said we only lost 26%. I still feel like pulling them across the table. It beggars belief that somebody could say we only lost 26%. We decimated the Irish fishing industry with one stroke of a pen. That is why we need the witnesses coming in here. I support Deputy Mac Lochlainn's proposal for a dedicated office in Europe so that one could work with the other. We also have some opportunities for foreign vessels to come in to land fish but the Department is a problem there. The big ports of years ago are no longer welcoming for boats coming in. It seems that nobody wants to touch Ireland. That is something we are going to have to address. We could get our factories working again, helping the towns and coastal communities, if we could get a bit of extra fish in that does not come from the Irish quota. However, we have to get the Department to work on that.

I thank the witnesses very much for coming in. It is great to have them here. I hope we will see them again in the coming weeks so that we can continue with this. The witnesses feed us information and we have a good Chairman and a good committee here. We want to make a difference. That is why we are here. We are not here just to sit and do nothing. I want to see the Irish fishing industry climb up the ladder again. We were up there before and there is no reason we cannot get back there.