David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the work he is doing in this area and encourage him to continue in the strongest possible way to assist the fishing industry. I wish to make two points in particular. Could the Minister comment on the revoking of Ireland's fish landing control plan by the European Commission, whereby the fish have to be weighed in many instances on the quay side, to be de-iced, weighed and then re-iced again? It strikes me as being very strange and perhaps even unsafe.

I understand €1.2 billion is said to be available to Ireland from the Brexit adjustment reserve fund. Could the Minister indicate if any of this could be used to address the damage to the Irish fishing industry caused by what the Minister acknowledges is an unfair loss of quota? Is any compensation package available to fishermen from the fund to help them? I would like the Minister to address the two questions on the revoking of Ireland's fish landing control plan and the Brexit adjustment reserve fund. Has the Minister been able to secure any funding from those moneys to assist fishermen at this time?

Could the Minister comment on the future of the fishing industry in Ireland? He acknowledged that it is under a lot of pressure. There is a lot of stress and concern there at the moment. I commend the fishermen on the demonstration in Cork the other day. It was respectful and well organised. They linked up with all the authorities to cause minimum disruption to everybody while getting their message across. They recognise that others have to make a living as well. Unfortunately, they may have to do it again to draw attention to the real concerns they have.

They do not want to be doing this as they want to be out fishing. I await the Minister's response.

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