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

Business confidence in Ireland is already among the lowest in the EU. The ongoing impact of Covid-19 and the approaching deadline is a massive cause of concern for small and medium-sized enterprises in Ireland. The details published today in the economic forecasts from the Department of Finance for budget 2021 assume one in seven jobs will be lost this year.

I want to talk about fisheries. The EU wants to maintain its access to UK waters based on historic fishing patterns. The UK has emphasised its sovereign control over its waters and wants fishing quotas to be negotiated on an annual basis. The worries for the fisheries sector in Ireland are many. Britain, which has long been seen to hold the upper hand in fisheries talks, is looking for a much larger share of fish quotas from stocks which cross into its waters, with the ability to reduce the amount of access EU vessels can have to UK waters after Brexit.

The EU, in turn, wants to stay as close as possible to current quota shares and access rights under the much hated Common Fisheries Policy. Now member states are piling the pressure on Mr. Barnier to stick to his negotiating mandate. The chief Brexit negotiator has held talks with Ministers from the group of eight coastal states which consist of Ireland, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, France and Sweden. The key question is whether the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, has been steadfastly protecting the Irish fishing sector or has been swayed by the EU through Mr. Barnier. The grave danger to the Irish fishing industry is linked to the wider trade negotiations. We have heard that the UK linkage is there, but what use or abuse of the linkage is being made?

There is a complete lack of transparency being provided on this issue. It is time that the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, updated the industry and the Dáil on the matter and on what steps he is taking to protect the sector. For example, 400 vessels from the EU are known to fish between the North Sea, the Irish Sea, the French channel and off the Shetland Islands. They are fishing inside UK waters. What happens if they are denied access?

Can the Minister confirm, in respect of the cross-border directive which has become a major concern as the clock is ticking, that an order will be made to allow Irish residents to continue to travel to Northern Ireland and avail of the EU cross-border directive after 1 January 2020? I believe that the Act that was passed by the House in 2019, the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Act, allows for this to happen. It is not only in the public interest and an effective use of the resources of the State, it will also remove the need for citizens to make a journey to France or further afield if they wish to use the EU directive. Given that many of them are elderly, in pain or have poor sight, if the Minister and Government does not confirm that an order will be made, these citizens will be left to wait for the HSE or the National Treatment Purchase Fund to act instead of being able to make a personal choice to fund surgery.

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