Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the guests. A lot has been said but, at the end of the day, Ireland has been hardest hit by the quota transfers to the UK and contributes approximately €43 million of the total estimated €199 million. That amounts to a 15% reduction compared with the overall value of the 2020 Irish quotas, and is proportionally more than the other EU member states.

The task force was established to address the implications arising from the EU-UK trade deal but under decommissioning alone, we will lose one third of the fleet again. At what stage will it stop before we have nothing at all or no fleet left? In recent days, we have seen what these fleets and fishermen have to go through to make a living. I do not think anyone of us would like to see their livelihoods taken away when they have to go out in those conditions. With a review of the Common Fisheries Policy planned for next year, I imagine the industry wants the Government to fight and stand up for it. That is the least people expect and deserve when it comes to going to Europe and fighting for a better deal for our fishing fleet.

The term “burden sharing”, which has come up in the meeting, indicates that by having arrived at this point the industry has been significantly let down. As Mr. Ward said, the fleet is disillusioned, and one could not blame them when one hears what is going on. This is especially the case, and must be taken into account, in the context of what the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation said in its opening statement about the disproportionate cost to Ireland in the transfer of quotas to the UK under the TCA, which it noted is 40% of the entire cost of the EU quota transfers when one considers the catches. Will the witnesses tell us how they are pursuing this and what advice they have for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and, indeed, the whole-of-government approach that was referred to? Have there been encouraging signs from member states that matter in this regard?

I refer to the Irish Fish Producers Organisation. I said earlier that this is a deeply uncomfortable matter to be talking about. What is essentially under discussion today is how we can mitigate the impacts of the fish quota share reductions, which in my view is deeply unjust and is a blot on the EU’s attitude towards the Irish fishing fleet. There is a big question to be asked of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in how we have arrived at this situation in which drastic measures such as these are even being asked of the sector. I hope a hard stance will be taken by the Department in the review of the Common Fisheries Policy.

I wish to stay on the issue of decommissioning for now. In what has been said in relation to decommissioning and looking forward to future generations, Mr. Ward said that he would like to see the Department bank some of the fishing capacity that would be given up. He also said that the Department is not interested in this proposal, which I find hard to swallow. Will he tell the committee of the mechanics of that proposal and what communication he had with the Department on the matter? Will he say a few words on the outlook of fishing for future generations and younger people coming into the industry, who were referred to earlier?