Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Fáiltím roimh an deis páirt a ghlacadh sa díospóireacht seo in ainneoin srianta ama. Ba mhaith liom cúpla pointe a dhéanamh agus b’fhéidir go mbeidh toradh ar na pointí sin. Beidh mé ag díriú isteach ar chúrsaí oileáin, feamainne agus iascairí beaga. Tá easpa polasaithe i gceist in ainneoin gur vótáil formhór na Dála, breis is trí bliana ó shin ó thaobh cúrsaí feamainne de agus breis is dá bhliain ó thaobh cúrsaí oileáin de, go raibh gá práinneach le polasaí agus níl polasaí ar bith againn fós.

Tá sé suntasach go leor go bhfuilimid ag caint inniu ar chúrsaí iascaireachta agus na ceantair tuaithe agus tá sé sin anuas ar an bhfógra nach féidir le hiascairí beaga na tíre níos mó ronnaigh a thabhairt as an bhfarraige.

Is é sin an fógra ón Roinn Talmhaíochta, Bia agus Mara. Díríonn sé sin solas ar cé chomh hamaideach, lofa agus mícheart is atá an córas, nach féidir le hiascairí beaga níos mó ronnaigh a thabhairt as na farraigí.

Tá gá le hathrú meoin. Tá gá le polasaí atá bunaithe ar fhormhór na ndaoine, seachas na báid mhóra agus lucht an rachmais. Má tá aon cheacht foghlamtha againn ón bpaindéim agus athrú aeráide agus ón ngéarchéim atá ann, is é go bhfuil gá rudaí a dhéanamh ar bhealach eile, ar bhealach atá inmharthana. Níl an dara rogha againn. Tá an réiteach againne i measc mhuintir na tíre. Ní mór don Rialtas seo cabhrú linne díriú isteach ar na réitigh sin mar go bhfuil gá lena dhéanamh.

I welcome the opportunity to talk on this matter, notwithstanding that the time is limited. I wish to make points on islands, seaweed and smaller fishermen. It is ironic that we are talking about fishermen today, on the day the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine announced that no more mackerel can be caught. How can the Minister say that is just? We are only in June and no more mackerel can be caught. Of course, this disproportionately affects the smaller boats. One problem is the quota and, as my colleague said, the sell-out. In addition, even the limited quota we have has been utterly mismanaged. The smallest boats are being penalised and now they are not allowed to catch any more mackerel.

More than three years ago on 8 March 2018, the majority of the Dáil - that was some achievement - accepted a motion that I and my colleagues tabled on sustainable seaweed harvesting agus cúrsaí feamainne agus an gá práinneach le polasaí ó thaobh cúrsaí feamainne de. We are now in 2021 and there is no sign of a policy or a strategy. This is a wonderful asset - no more than our waters and oceans, no more than quotas for fishing, which are public assets which should be used for the maximum public gain. It is more than three years later and we still have no policy on seaweed.

Our islands are an example to us in sustainable living. If we were cliste go leor, d’fhéadfaimis éisteacht leo agus ceacht foghlamtha a bheith againne maidir leis an mbealach is fearr le dul anois chun dul i ngleic le cúrsaí aeráide agus paindéime. If we had any sense, we would realise that the solution lies before our noses through sustainable development in our community areas and having the people on board with us. Instead of that, we are pursuing policies that are segmented and guaranteed to divide and conquer. I am absolutely committed to action on climate change. I voted for the Bill yesterday. While I was not happy with it, I realised it was all we were going to get at this point.

However, we are pushing ahead with a policy that is not encouraging people to work with us on climate change. We are pushing renewable development, which I fully support, but not in a manner that is sustainable. For instance, in Connemara there is uproar over the manner in which windmills are being proposed. I will find myself in an extremely difficult position. We want public involvement, public return and public ownership. That is what we need in all our communities.

Through the pandemic we learned that globalisation is not good for people. It is not good for business because we have had to bail all the businesses out. Most importantly it is not good for the planet. Therefore, if we are talking about transformative action, we need to do it in a way that is meaningful. What better way to start than with the small fishermen? A renegotiation of the Common Fisheries Policy is coming up. In the first instance, we must acknowledge that wrong was done and then try to get a much better deal, with the realisation that a quota is a public asset for all of us.

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