Dáil debates

Thursday, 1 February 2018

Island Fisheries (Heritage Licence) Bill 2017: Second Stage [Private Members]

 

4:00 pm

Photo of Pearse DohertyPearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Táim fíorbhuíoch don deis cúpla focal a rá faoin Bhille seo tráthnóna inniu. Táim fíorbhródúil fosta as a bheith ábalta in éineacht le mo chomhghleacaithe i Sinn Féin an reachtaíocht seo a mholadh.

I am delighted to see so many Deputies contributing to the debate. It appears not all those who wish to speak will have their voices heard. It is good that there is such demand to speak on this legislation. I am pleased to be able to sponsor this Bill with my party colleagues, Deputies Martin Ferris and Martin Kenny. Some months ago, I had the pleasure of accompanying Deputy Kenny to Arranmore Island off the coast of Donegal where together we launched this significant Bill. I also presented it on Tory Island earlier this year.

The Island Fisheries (Heritage Licence) Bill is both significant and historic because it seeks to put an end to the years of decline we have unfortunately witnessed for all too long in our offshore island populations. In drafting the legislation, Sinn Féin worked closely and in consultation with the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation, IIMRO, which is dedicated to promoting and defending island fishing communities. The origins of the IIMRO lie in the long struggle of Donegal island fishermen to achieve recognition of their rights. This followed the offshore ban on salmon fishing in 2006, which was closely followed in 2008 by the ban on all net fishing in waters known as Area 6A.

I am pleased to report that a number of IIMRO members are in the Gallery. They include Arranmore native, Jerry Early, and Seamus Bonner, who has been mentioned, as well as others who have been instrumental in developing, promoting and campaigning for the Bill before the House. It is only right that we pay tribute to these individuals for the role they have played in bringing the plight of island fishing communities to the fore. Without them, this Bill would not have seen the light of day. It was they who nurtured it.

Many Deputies referred to the report of the joint committee. I commend the Chairman of the committee at the time, the current Minister of State, Deputy Andrew Doyle. The driving force for the report was the island communities, particularly on Arranmore. They wrote to the joint committee demanding to have their voices heard. Thankfully, the committee listened and gave them a voice. It then produced a report in which it recommended the legislation before the House. This speaks to the length of time people on the islands have been campaigning for their rights.

I referred to the organisation which was established before the national and regional inshore fisheries forums. Many would argue that it was the work of the IIMRO that led to the establishment of these forums. Sílim go mba chóir dúinn ár mbuíochas a ghabháil leo as a gcuid iarrachtaí go dtí seo agus iad fós i mbun feachtais chun aitheantas a bhaint amach maidir le cearta iascairí na n-oileán. Feachtas é seo ní hamháin in Eirinn. Feachtas é a bhí curtha os comhair údaráis na hEorpa fosta ag an t-oileánach John O’Brien agus cruachás na n-iascairí léirithe go soiléir sa scannán "A Turning Tide in the Life of Man".

When I use the term "cruachás" or "hardship" in English, no one in this Chamber should think for one second that it not an appropriate way to describe the difficulties our island fishing communities have been forced to contend with through the years. These are the communities of Tory, Arranmore and many other islands where fishing has long played a central role not only in the local economy, but in island life more broadly. This brings us to the nub of the issue and the reason the Bill is so important. If enacted, it will ensure, for the first time, that island based fishing communities have their rights to practice their long established traditional fishing methods protected and recognised by law. These are rights and freedoms which successive Governments failed to protect and defend for years. This failure to stand up for island communities has seen many of their inhabitants having their livelihoods unfairly robbed of them. It has meant that a once proud fishing people have been all but barred from fishing the very waters which surround the place they call home.

Let us put ourselves in their shoes for just one moment. A couple of weeks ago, when I spoke about the Bill on Tory Island, I had these very thoughts and I had them again earlier this week when I looked out at the Atlantic ocean from Arranmore Island. Imagine being the son or daughter of a fisherman from Tory Island and despite the waters around the island having been a means of sustaining and supporting one's family for generations, these same waters are now forbidden territory. That is the shocking and shameful reality facing island fishing communities and it must not be allowed to continue.

The Minister may wish to nitpick about the Bill, find flaws in it or use smoke and mirrors to deflect from it. However, if he genuinely believes in the future of island communities, he should agree to work together on it. One way or another, with or without Government support, this Bill will pass.

I ask the Minister of State, his officials and his Department to get on board, so that we bring in the best heritage licence Bill we can and we make sure that the reality I described about staring at waters ripe with fish but in which islanders are forbidden to fish is no longer the reality. This Bill is an effort to right that wrong. Our Bill is designed to facilitate the continuation of traditional fishing methods which have sustained island populations for centuries. If enacted, through exploiting the limited scope which exists within the Common Fisheries Policy framework, this legislation will allow for the provision of dedicated ring-fenced and non-transferable quotas on our offshore islands. It will provide for the issuing of licences to island fishermen habitually resident on these islands who engage in small-scale coastal fishing to earn a living. In an effort to ensure this legislation is robust, that its provisions are lawful and that the integrity of the legislation is maintained, we have purposefully included a number of restrictions. These are to ensure that the quota cannot be transferred to anybody else and that the licences cannot be traded or sold off, as has happened in the past.

Let me be clear. This Bill will not completely undo the imbalances in our current fishing laws, which are unfairly tipped the balance in favour of the select few. However, I believe passionately that this legislation will go some way towards ensuring that small island fishermen have a future in which islanders can fish their waters without fear, with impunity and, most importantly, with a future where they can have hope, not just for themselves, but for their islands and for generations of islanders to come. Seo é fáth nach bhfuil aon drogall orm an Bhille seo a mholadh don Teach.

I plead with the Minister of State. As I said, this legislation is going to pass, so I call on him to get on board. I said to the island community and the fishermen on both Tory and Arranmore that we have the support of Fianna Fáil, the Labour party and the Independents. There are enough people in this House who support this concept, but I told them that is not good enough. What we want is for this House to speak with one voice. This is even bigger than the issue of the right to fish for island communities. This will represent the House saying that we recognise island communities as special and distinct, and we are willing to carve out a space in Irish law for them, in recognition of the challenges and difficulties that have been placed on them by Governments and by nature. That is what this is about, so I appeal to the Minister of State not to call a vote on this Bill.

Let this House stand together and send a signal to the fishermen who travelled here today from our offshore islands, from offshore Donegal and elsewhere, and to those who were not able to travel but who want to hear that now they have a Government and a Parliament that recognise their identity and challenges and want to do something to make sure they have a future in the place they call home and that they love, the offshore islands.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.