Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Minister on his engagement with the industry so far. It is quite rare on big issues such as this when engaging with stakeholders to have so much correspondence with the Minister. I hope he keeps it up and I commend him for it. We are all aware of the considerable concerns in the fishing sector, with the Brexit agreement seeing a total loss of €43 million and Ireland surrendering a greater percentage of quota than most EU states. We need reassurance for coastal and island communities that the Minister will put in place schemes to support those who need them most. I have a number of items to raise and I will give the Minister time to respond.

The European maritime fisheries and aquaculture fund is a crucial support for sustainable fishing and the economic development of coastal areas. Its predecessor proved vital in fostering innovations to develop sustainable markets for small-scale and island fishing communities to stay alive. When will the text of the new scheme be available to the Minister and other stakeholders? Will he provide stopgap investments for current projects, such as the Government is doing with the LEADER programme at present?

There are ongoing issues with the designation of ports for the landing of UK-registered Northern Irish boats. The excessive reregistering costs are simply not an option for many, and I am sure the Minister knows this. Also, the 24-hour notice for landing is simply unworkable for many people. Will the Minister ensure the designation of further ports to those already announced? Will he introduce exemptions to notice periods until fishers have had a chance to adapt to the new arrangements?

With regard to quotas and decommissioning, does the Minister plan to address the loss of 15% of our quotas? Are there plans to establish a decommissioning scheme? Previous schemes have often been at the cost of small-scale and inshore fishing, which is the type of fishing we need to promote, and to the advantage of larger and commercial fishing. It is very important that any potential decommissioning scheme prevents this inequity and does not allow the sector to become dominated by a small number of big players.

Many of these issues can be connected with how decisions are made and whose interests are being prioritised. For many small-scale fishermen and women it can feel as though the Government is working against them rather than fighting for them. This has been the case with successive Governments and I hope this will change. They represent the type of sustainable fishing that has been practised for generations in west Cork and other coastal and island communities. However, successive Governments have focused on the larger, more lucrative - by more lucrative I mean more lucrative for the few and not the many - and the more damaging types of fishing. It is essential the Minister facilitates the granting of producer organisation status to small-scale representative groups to better reflect the various types of businesses, such as family businesses and island and coastal communities, that are often overshadowed by the larger players. Ireland has a diverse coastline with various requirements at regional level. Will the Minister please assure the organisations seeking producer organisation status that he and his officials will work proactively with them to ensure this? Their voices need to be heard at this crucial time for the industry. At present, many are feeling frustrated and held up by bureaucratic technicalities. The Department should be out there working with them to meet requirements. This is the type of Department that fishing communities need. Will the Minister make it happen with regard to producer organisations? I ask the Minister to prioritise this question.

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