Dáil debates

Wednesday, 12 June 2019

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

 

12:20 pm

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I speak to fishermen from my constituency of Cork South-West daily. Whether they are inshore fishermen or fisherwomen or work on larger trawlers, they are furious with political parties that time and again have thrown away any rights Irish fishermen have. They want a stand-alone Minister in this country whose sole responsibility is to fight for their rights, the same as in other European countries. Every call for fishermen by myself and others has gone unheeded. Only last year, I made call after call for Ireland to apply for a bluefin tuna quota like its fellow European nations. This was resisted until the Government was eventually embarrassed into doing so.

My calls for a cull of seals have gone ignored. The livelihoods of inshore fishermen in Castletownbere and throughout west Cork have been destroyed by the large number of seals at sea.

The throwing away of our rights within six nautical miles was the last straw for many fishermen. We can now see the major fallout for them. The Bill was rushed through the Dáil. There was no pre-legislative scrutiny and no time given for us to discuss it. It was cut short. Why was the Dáil never told about the Rockall dispute with Scotland two months ago during our short discussions on the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill 2017 when there had been ongoing issues since 2017? Had we known of them during our discussions, surely we would have tried to negotiate a deal that would have protected the rights of Irish fishermen for once.

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