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

The fishing industry is hanging on the edge at this time due to the Brexit negotiations and British insistence that all EU trawlers vacate UK waters on 31 December. On top of this, we heard at the Select Committee on Agriculture and the Marine last week that there will be a 5% reduction in whitefish fleet fishing next year. This will mainly hit fishermen from Castletownbere and the south west. On top of successive Governments being unable to obtain lucrative bluefin tuna quotas for Ireland while other European countries easily secure ample quotas, this all goes back to us having a weak hand in negotiations.

When negotiating the programme for Government, I asked for a stand-alone Minister for the marine. The Taoiseach's refusal in that regard is coming back to haunt us. Far more concerning is the fact that Michel Barnier, in his negotiations with the British, offered 18% more fish but this was rejected as not being enough. Last week, I asked a question of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, and the Tánaiste but I did not receive a reply. They do now want to answer this question because, shamefully, they do not want to admit what is going on. I will ask the question again. Whose fish is Michel Barnier giving away in these negotiations?

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