Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan spoke first and it was he who put down the basic question. I appreciate his contribution on the climate change issue because he has consistent and very strong views on the climate change agenda. We have a lot of work to do as a country to deliver upon our commitments. It will take the resolve of not only Government, but every Member of this House, to do the right thing in respect of the emergency for the world, and particularly for younger generations and children not yet born, presented by rising greenhouse gas emissions. We must do the right thing and I appreciate the Deputy's support in that regard. With regard to the seafood task force, the decommissioning scheme and tier 2 boats, the Deputy makes fair points. He has raised these on a number of occasions. I will talk to the Minister again in that regard.

Following on from Deputy Mac Lochlainn's comments, I have been very active in respect of the fishing industry. I created a structured dialogue with all of the sectors both pre and post the Brexit decision. The Deputy can go on about the Common Fisheries Policy but it is subject to ten-yearly reviews. I met with the Commissioner for fisheries when he came to Ireland. I also met with all of the fishing representatives. It is interesting that one of the reasons we suffered so much from the Brexit decision on fisheries is that the Common Fisheries Policy gave us access to British waters to a very extensive degree, particularly with regard to our mackerel quota in British waters. A no-deal Brexit would have been catastrophic for our fishing sector and that had to be avoided. Having said that, the deal that was done was unfair to Ireland and disproportionate. We received substantial funding from the Brexit adjustment reserve fund. We received approximately 20% of the overall fund, which equates to approximately €4 billion. We will obviously allocate some of that to the fishing industry and the coastal communities affected.

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