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

I thank the Minister for staying on for the full debate. It is rare to see that happening in the Dáil.

I attended the annual general meeting of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation in the Maritime Hotel, Bantry, last Saturday in order to educate myself on the crisis that Brexit will be for our fishing industry. Brexit has created fallout for the industry and it is already visible with a huge increase in numbers of foreign boats and their increased efforts in Ireland's exclusive economic zone, EEZ. Irish vessels have traditionally fished primarily in waters of the north west around Rockall, off the Scottish Isles and in the Irish Sea and the Celtic Sea. Following Brexit, we will lose some 50% of our fishing grounds. Irish fishing trawlers have few or no rights in the North Sea, in the English Channel or in Portuguese or Spanish waters. Our fishermen are prevented from this due to not having a history of doing so when Ireland joined the EU. They had no historical landings to show because they caught as much as was needed in UK and Irish waters.

A no-deal Brexit will force all EU vessels from UK waters, which is estimated at 400 vessels. In contrast, Ireland's entire fleet of 18 m vessels is only 170. This possible invasion of displaced EU vessels means certain damage to the biologically sensitive area where fish come to spawn and where juveniles feed and grow before they swim away to other waters. For the past two years, the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation has requested an evaluation by seeking scientific advice to calculate the maximum displacement a biologically sensitive area could accept before the sustainability of stock is damaged.

We wish to also seek from our competent authority a comprehensive list of which other EU vessels have historical rights to fish in Ireland's EEZ. A 2018 report by the fisheries ecosystems advisory service of the Marine Institute, which was commissioned by the previous Minister, Deputy Creed, reported that the Irish free register showed that in 2006 there were more than 280 vessels of a length greater than 18 m. Today, there are fewer than 180. Our fear is that Brexit could trigger another decommissioning programme. This would be the death knell for many of our small coastal fishing villages and offshore islands, and the few remaining family-owned businesses. Some fishermen will be affected more than others, but no evaluation has been carried out to identify what vessels will be the most affected, especially those who are heavily dependent on access and quota share in UK waters.

The money promised by the previous Government in response to the fallout from Brexit was €14 million. Using the example of the effort made in response to the devastating effect of Covid-19 in the second quarter of this year following the collapse of markets, an amount of €190,050 was paid to more than 1,400 vessel owners. If shared out equally, this would be less than €150 each. The industry has learned that a substantial commitment has been made to the French fishing industry, including a substantial sum for each vessel affected. A figure of €800,000 each has been mentioned.

The fish stocks of Ireland are a national asset, managed by the Minister with responsibility for the marine. The Minister is legally obliged under EU law to treat each fisherman fairly and, under proportionality, to distribute resources fairly and with clear, transparent policies while not favouring one sector above another. This will never be as important as in the period following Brexit. This requirement of proportionality will be crucial following Brexit, so that no section will be forced out of the industry while another gets richer due to a geographical location.

Coastal communities and the tens of thousands of people employed in the processing and service sector must be protected. Fishermen and their organisation must be partners with the Government bodies if they are to survive. The demersal white fish fleet must be protected. Some vessels in this sector catch up to 70% of their fish, which makes up to 80% of their earnings, from the fish they catch in UK waters.

I shall give one example of how fleets' fishing activities will be affected by Brexit. One of the most important species to our demersal fleet is nephrops. This species includes Dublin Bay prawns. These fish do not migrate to other areas, they live in burrows on the seabed. The Smalls ground is one of the areas our vessels fish that is in UK waters. In the past decades hundreds of thousands of euro has been invested in Irish fishing vessels to adapt them into freezer vessels to gain a maximum return for this highly-valued species, and diverting them from the gadoid fisheries, thus allowing us in the industry to manage the quotas and give a fair opportunity to all to earn their living.

We all know that a no-deal Brexit is bad for Ireland on many fronts but none more so than those relating to fisheries, agriculture and the cross-border health scheme. We can point the finger at the UK full on if it pulls out with no deal in place. The Government can, however, put in certain measures on the cross-border directive whereby thousands of people have travelled from the South to the North of Ireland for hip, knee and cataract surgeries. Some 2,000 people from Cork and Kerry have travelled to Belfast. Tomorrow night, the 58th bus will travel to Belfast for people to have eyesight-saving surgery. This cannot stop. These people are genuinely losing their eyesight. Every day delayed leads to these people seeing less and less. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, councillors Ben Dalton O'Sullivan and Danny Collins and I have organised these buses in what is our only hope to save the eyesight of these people. I would be delighted if the proposed new clinic in Cork materialises, but it could take two years to complete. Until that happens, I call on the Minister to let the House know today how the legislation is progressing to ensure that the cross-border scheme continues, as the previous Minister indicated that it would last year when I raised the matter with him. We must remember, whether we like it or not, that Northern Ireland is still across the Border. Many health agreements, for example, those involving cancer patients in Donegal travelling north and babies in Belfast with heart issues coming to Dublin, must remain in place. We need to know from the Minister if the cross-border scheme for the South to the North will continue. What is being put in place for this to happen?

Last month we took a 36 year old woman, Maeve, from the Minister's and the Taoiseach's constituency, who had been advised by the Taoiseach's constituency office to go up on our buses as there was no way that the 20 minute surgery could take place in Cork or anywhere in the south of Ireland before she went blind.

Maeve is in the middle of a celebration in her life and I intend to take her for surgery on her other eye in the weeks ahead so that she can get her life back to normal. We cannot play games here. I have seen people who were blind have their sight restored in Belfast. If the cross-border directive ends on 31 December, it will have devastating consequences for people in Cork and Kerry. Again, has the necessary legislation been drawn up to protect the scheme for the next number of years or will people from Cork and Kerry go blind on this Government's watch?

In the time remaining, I wish to return to fishing which is going through a very difficult time. Fishing communities are very angry and the statutory instrument that the Taoiseach signed a few weeks ago is a hammer blow to the industry. I ask the Minister to imagine not being on the road on a particular evening and then receiving a letter saying that he has incurred penalty points. He then proves that he was not on the road and should not have received penalty points but those points stay on his licence. How in the name of God can any Taoiseach in his right mind sign something without at least making some amendments to try to safeguard the fishing industry? Brexit is kicking them and the statutory instrument signed by a Fianna Fáil Taoiseach is kicking them. We need to protect this industry. We also need to protect our agricultural industry although I do not have time to go into that now. I ask the Minister to give us some insight into the position regarding the cross-border directive.

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