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

Patrick Murphy, chief executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, which represents 490 fishermen and their families, spelled this out starkly when he said that the recent decision by the then acting marine Minister, Deputy Micheál Martin, to sign contentious statutory penalty points legislation for fishing breaches into law was dismaying. Mr. Murphy said that two members of his organisation challenged this legislation in the High Court and won. He said that the then Minister, Deputy Creed, tried again to introduce this flawed legislation with little change in 2019.

In west Cork, fishing groups were promised a meeting with the Taoiseach by one of his own backbenchers. Of course, there was no meeting. Yet again, we saw empty promises made by a Government which was seemingly trying once again to criminalise fishermen and fisherwomen. When this meeting with the Taoiseach was promised to take place I assumed and read that changes would be made to the statutory instrument. It was only after attending the AGM of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation that I found out this meeting had not materialised. In my view, the fishermen of west Cork were hoodwinked and that the plan was to hope that we would all keep our mouths shut, take our eye off the ball and turn our backs on our fishermen. Tonight's motion, if passed, will not allow this to happen.

All Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green Party Deputies who represent coastal communities and who claim to represent the fishermen who fight the high seas and who have faced a mammoth task day in and day out with little or no support for decades, whether they claim to support those in the bigger trawlers or the inshore fishermen, should not support further destruction of fishermen's livelihoods by backing the party lines. I urge them to stand by their fishermen whether from west Cork or any other part of Ireland. If those Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Deputies toe the party line tonight and turn their backs on these fishermen and fisherwomen and their families, it will not be forgotten for decades to come.

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