Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is an important motion, and there is a need for urgency on the issue. I wish to speak to the amendment submitted by Sinn Féin to the motion. It is about the need to have the affected fishing communities directly involved in the pre-planning process and to ensure that their livelihoods are protected. There are enough issues facing our inshore and offshore fishing communities in Ireland. They have been failed by the Common Fisheries Policy. I reiterate - this might shock the Minister as he may not know it - that only 15% of the fish caught in the Irish exclusive economic zone under the Common Fisheries Policy goes to the Irish fishing fleet. Some 85% is given away to the fishing fleets of other member states. It would be reasonable to share the waters, but 85%? That is the context in which we say our fishing communities have been squeezed really badly.

This is an opportunity to coexist. There are opportunities, if this is managed properly, to develop offshore wind energy. One of the issues now is that people cannot consider going beyond 12 nautical miles for floating wind energy infrastructure that does not need to be fixed. It can be moved. It is connected through seabeds by cables. Rather than infrastructure that is close to the shore, which would have an impact on fishing grounds, this type of offshore energy could work better. There is also the need for transferable licences. There are skippers of fishing boats in Ireland who cannot transfer their licences through other marine work. That needs to be looked at. There needs to be an approach to our marine infrastructure and our marine resource that can serve the interests of the Irish people, which would involve this type of wind energy while also protecting our fishing communities. It is critical that whatever we do, our fishing communities are partners in the process and coexist with offshore energy such that one is not opposed to the other.

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