James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

An undue focus was probably placed on it at the time for a variety of reasons. In 1976, Fianna Fáil, in Opposition, tabled a Bill to the effect that quotas would be revisited and that the Common Fisheries Policy would be reviewed. In the round, it did not happen and that has often been said. The Law of the Sea is an excellent academic work on the subject and the prelude to that would suggest the same. Much has been said and there is certainly some truth in the suggestion that when we open up the Common Fisheries Policy, considering the size of the seabed and the offshore resources available to us, we perhaps did not negotiate as well as we might have. We did a better deal with regard to agriculture. There may be swings and roundabouts in that regard.

There has always been pressure on our stocks and from the boats coming in. On the flip side, we have always gone out. If one listens to people from coastal communities such as those in Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland, one will find Irish accents, dialects, names and, I am sure, DNA if we were to dig deeper, because we have always travelled. The story of fishing is a story of migration around the world. It is said that when Columbus allegedly discovered America and claimed it for the Kingdom of Spain, he either did not notice or did not report home that several Basque fishing boats were ahead of him in some of the estuaries and had been going there for centuries. That did not suit the narrative at the time. Often politics regarding fishing in other areas is subject to the prevailing wisdom of the day. British colonial policy towards Ireland was to support, in ports such as Hull, Grimsby and Aberdeen, industrial super-ports and its own fishing industry while trying to keep the Irish fishing industry weak because it was seen as an economic threat. Part of that was done via a policy of divide and conquer. Rather than having an investment in scale, it was to support a myriad small jetties, wharves and piers, which were not really sustainable. There is a need for economies of scale and investment in these matters.

The report before us today makes a lot of sense. It is a way to preserve that coastal tradition and economic imperative. It needs to be carefully phrased and managed. Some of the questions posed during debates that have taken place at the committee about how to ensure it is an island resident and that the fishing measures are legitimate and reasonable, but there are measures in the Bill, which have been debated at the committee, to mitigate that. This can and should be done. I hear the Minister and his officials say that it is in breach of EU law. I am certain that if it is, the impact would be so minimal that it can be addressed through amendments on Committee Stage.

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