Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the fishermen of our coastal counties. I am from an inland county, Tipperary, which is a proud county. I acknowledge the work that Deputy Michael Collins has done and corroborate his statement that his demand that the Taoiseach appoint a full Minister for fishing was not delivered on. That is all he ever asked for.

Irish fishermen understandably resent the EU requirement, facilitated by the Irish Government and the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, for catches to be weighed at ports. They have to take the fish out of ice. It is unbelievable. We lost badly in 1973 when we joined the EU. There has been a total sell-out this time. Like Deputy Collins, I am not blaming the Minister because he is new and there were three or four Ministers before him in a short time. We took our eye off the ball and got a bad deal, under which we can only catch 16% of the fish in our own waters. Spanish and French trawlers can come in to our ports and they do not have to weigh their catches. They can bring them back to where they want to process them, as we used to do. This new weighing rule is tyranny. The Minister has run away with himself since Covid. He thinks he can do what he likes and he has got away with very little scrutiny here. I am astounded that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and some Independent backbenchers, especially from coastal counties, will not stand up to represent their people as they are elected to do.

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