Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for facilitating this debate. I express my disappointment at the lack of attendance in the Chamber for a debate on one of our most important sectors and the future of our coastal communities. That illustrates the challenge we and the fishing sector have in highlighting the huge obstacles, barriers and challenges it faces in making the sector viable. That is why a number of weeks ago, more than 70 boats from around Ireland sailed into Cork Harbour up to the Cork City docks to prove a point and make known their huge frustration with the state of the Irish fishing sector. It was a respectful demonstration. The fishers made their points, which were valid, on issues such as the removal of the control plan, the need for immediate supports and measures for their industry and the measly quota share the Irish fleet has under the Common Fisheries Policy.

That is the point with which I will start. When dealing with the fishing sector we quite often get bogged down, the message gets lost in terminology and species names and we miss the point. The point is that the Irish fishing sector is correct. Its share of quota species in EU waters is abysmal.

In order to demonstrate that point in the easiest way possible, I have made a series of graphs, which are just visible on the screen. This series of graphs shows areas in EU waters right around the island of Ireland and demonstrates the tiny quota share the Irish fleet has in respect of these different species. These statistics are undeniable and irrefutable and are seen in the Common Fisheries Policy facts and figures document for 2020. They clearly demonstrate that, in respect of the well-known species, hake, of a total pot of €185 million, the Irish share is just €10 million, a measly 5%. Moving on to another very well-known species, haddock, of a total pot of €20 million, the total Irish catch is €1.6 million, a measly 7% share. With regard to blue whiting, a species of fish particularly abundant in Irish waters, of a pot of €67 million, the Irish share is €8 million, or 11%. With regard to monkfish, or anglerfish, again a very popular fish which is in demand, the statistic I have refers specifically to sector 7 and so is specific to Irish waters. Of a total pot of €124 million, the Irish share is just €9.4 million, a share of 7%. These facts are easy to follow. My final statistic relates to prawns. Of a total pot of €112 million, the Irish share is a tiny €1.5 million, or 1%.

What the industry is telling us is absolutely correct. The share we are getting, after years and years of losing out on quota share, is not good enough. That is why those in the industry are concerned. That is why they are frustrated and want us to go back to Europe and fight a better fight for quota share. It does not stop there. We have seen a loss of €15 million in our mackerel quota, which will increase to €26 million by 2026. To take a species like herring, the Irish Sea is only a few miles from here. This is where herring are caught. This is where west Cork boats have, for years, fished for herring in the Irish Sea. Europe has given away 99.9% of the quota for that species. I can testify that bluefin tuna is abundant off the Irish coast, particularly as we move towards the end of the summer and into August. We have no quota for bluefin tuna while Japanese boats come to the west coast of Ireland to fish for this species. I can therefore understand the frustration of the industry.

It is plain for everyone to see. The statistics are there. I did not create them. I took them from the Common Fisheries Policy. We need to step up to the mark. I commend the Minister and the task force on the production of this interim report but one of the most important points made within it relates to the whole area of burden sharing. It says:

The Task Force recommends that all options to alleviate the loss of quota share be pursued at every available opportunity and treated as a matter of urgency. This should involve a whole of Government approach supported by a lobbying exercise by industry and Government at all EU levels.

The industry is asking for help. It is asking for us to go back to Europe and fight for better quota share. We are an island nation. We have this incredible resource right around our island that can sustain coastal communities and help them to flourish. We need to look after it. We cannot neglect it. I implore the Minister, the Government and the State to step up to the mark.

Another point made at the protest related to the outrage at the removal of the control plan. The Sea-Fisheries Protection Agency, SFPA, came before a meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture and the Marine and failed to answer questions on the removal of that plan. It failed to tell the committee why it was removed and when it will be brought back. Its removal is leading to circumstances in which fishers right across Ireland are forced to weigh their fish on the pier. On sunny days like today, that will have a very negative impact on the quality of our fish. Fish is having to be de-iced, weighed and re-iced. This process takes hours and has implications for health and safety. Prior to that, the Irish industry weighed its fish in the factories. It was traceable, transparent and safe. That is what we need. As soon as possible, we need the SFPA to step up to the mark and reintroduce a control plan for the pelagic and whitefish sectors so that fishers can continue to do what they had been doing safely, transparently and in a traceable way, which is to weigh their fish in the factories. That needs to happen as soon as possible.

The task force's interim report speaks about support measures for the pelagic sector and the refrigerated seawater, RSW, sector but also opens the door to supports for the inshore sector, as the Minister mentioned in his contribution. That is something at which we really need to look. The inshore sector may not have been impacted in the same way by the Brexit trade agreement but it has been severely impacted. It has been impacted by both Brexit and Covid. Restrictions have led to the closure of restaurants and facilities and a consequent drop in demand and significant drop in price for many shellfish species, of which brown crab is a perfect example. Inshore fishers' income has been devastated in 2020 and 2021. Through this task force, we now have an opportunity to step up to the mark and introduce a support scheme. I have given the Minister the document from the National Inshore Fishermen's Association, NIFA, in which the association outlines some very simple, easy and achievable measures which would help to support the sector. These include a continuity grant of, for example, 20% of 2019 turnover to help the industry survive, battle and get past this two-year period, which has been the toughest in the sector's history.

The inshore sector is not just based in my constituency of Cork South-West or the Minister's constituency of Donegal. In every port and harbour across the island of Ireland we have an inshore sector comprising small boats and bigger boats which are the lifeblood and lifeline of their communities. They are what make these coastal communities tick. We need to ensure that there is still an inshore fishing sector when all of this is done. The opportunity has presented itself in the form of this task force and the document from NIFA which I have given to the Minister outlining a potential continuity grant. I believe this grant could be the difference between this industry surviving and not surviving. I plead with the Minister to read this document and take it on seriously.

The Minister has a challenging job. I commend him on the establishment of the task force. The measures outlined in the interim report are good and can be built on. They can be the basis of a final report which will help this industry. Whether it is funded through the Brexit adjustment reserve, BAR, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, EMFF, or Revenue, we need to do everything we can to ensure that this industry, which is the lifeblood of many coastal communities, is viable and has a future. Some 70 boats recently sailed into Cork Harbour to demonstrate the exact points I have been making. There will be many more sailing into Dublin next Thursday. I ask the Minister please to listen to the fishers' requests.

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