Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tomorrow will see the biggest national organised protest seen in this country for many years as the fishermen and women of this country from Malin Head to Mizen Head converge in Dublin, similar to the protest in Cork two weeks ago, in a show of solidarity about the scandalous way that they have been treated for decades and especially for the last 12 months under the Taoiseach's leadership. This will be the second of many protests since fishermen have had enough of inaction, spin and lies. They will take the Taoiseach and the Government's leadership to task for huge inaction which will see every fisherman lose anything between €5,000 and €20,000, with significant job losses in rural Ireland.

I was told that the Taoiseach was in west Cork last Saturday, in Union Hall and Castletownbere. It is always important for a Head of State to visit west Cork. Those who told me on Friday and Saturday that the Taoiseach was coming felt that it was way too late, other than to hear about the nightmare crisis that these fishermen face after calamitous errors by this Government. When in west Cork last Saturday, did the Taoiseach apologise for his continued refusal to appoint a senior Minister for the marine, which was a red line for me in negotiations for the formation of a Government? No matter how I explained the imminent crisis of Brexit and other major issues related to fishing, the Taoiseach refused to understand the importance of appointing a Minister to protect Irish waters, fishermen and our richest resource. Did the Taoiseach take the opportunity to apologise for signing into law the unjust and shockingly unfair penalty points while in his short term as Minister for Agriculture and the Marine in 2020?

Did the Taoiseach apologise for the shocking handling of Brexit negotiations in late 2020, where clear evidence shows that the Government's eye was off the ball despite me pleading for the Taoiseach to be involved? While the Government failed, France and other European countries had their terms and conditions fully met by negotiator Michel Barnier before they would agree to anything. Did the Taoiseach apologise to the fishermen for the cock-up with the weighing crisis hoisted upon our fishermen, with the weighing of fish on our piers for inshore and pelagic fishermen? We have since found out that the Minister and Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, knew in December 2020 but failed to consult with the industry until 5 p.m. on Friday, 16 April, about what the industry would call a crisis beyond belief. If the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and SFPA could add more insult to injury to the Irish fishing fleet, we now have an agreement to allow French and Belgian trawlers to park at Irish piers and to unload straight onto lorries without weighing or any checks of any sort. This is a hard pill for honest Irish fishermen who park beside them and have been afflicted by every Irish rule and regulation inflicted on them by the State.

Did the Taoiseach apologise to the fishermen after the attempted ramming of a Castletownbere vessel off the Castletownbere coast by a Spanish trawler which was illegally fishing in Irish waters? It was three times the size of the Castletownbere trawler. Irish fishermen have no protection in their own waters since no one could come to their aid to immediately arrest the Spanish trawler which was carrying out an act of piracy. The only explanation that the Taoiseach gave last Saturday, which has left many exasperated, is that there is an uneven and unfair burden on Irish fishermen and he has made it clear to the Commission. Is the best the Taoiseach has to offer? Everyone knew this already. Will the Taoiseach reveal today how these fishermen's incomes and livelihoods, which the Government is helping to destroy, can be saved without the word "decommission"?

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