John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing us to raise this issue and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for coming to the House to respond to it.

The people of south Wexford are dependent on fishing and farming for their economic survival. Unfortunately, the fishing industry was attacked over the weekend by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Navy and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority. On Friday, letters were delivered to 100 fishermen on 15 trawlers, and workers in Kilmore Quay have been laid off since then. The livelihoods of these men are jeopardised and the viability of the business in which they work is in serious doubt. Fishing is the lifeblood of the small village of Kilmore Quay, which has been thrown into a state of crisis. With no fish, there is no work for the people on the boats or in the factories. The O'Flaherty brothers, who operate trawlers, are trenchant critics of Government policy on fishing quotas.

It appears the south east has been systematically discriminated against by the Department, the Navy and the SFPA in targeting fishermen under a long list of regulations. The entire O'Flaherty fleet has been ordered to cease trading, despite only two of the trawlers having been questioned originally. It raises the question of whether the fleet on the south-east coast is being unfairly targeted. As these Irish boats remain in port, Spanish, Belgian and French ships continue to fish these seas. The broader issue at stake is the need for Ireland to trade quotas with other states that are under-fishing, particularly the French. The French only caught 38% of their monkfish quota in Irish waters, but they steadfastly refused to yield their unused quota. It is up to the Minister to press this matter at EU level to enable fishermen to maximise the total quota available.

An effective quota transfer system between member states is the key part of the Common Fisheries Policy that delivers both for fishermen who make their living from the sea and consumers on the shore. I ask the Minister to examine the possibility of a swap, whereby fishermen at Kilmore Quay could return to fishing and the men in question could return to work as quickly as possible.

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