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

With the little time that I have, there are a number of issues that I need to raise. The urgent one, of course, at this point is off the south-west coast and the Russian military exercise and the damage this will do to Irish fishermen as they fish in these areas, as well as the damage to so much marine life. There is no doubt that this Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Green Party Government has destroyed the income of so many fishermen in the sell-out of Irish fishing rights in a shocking Brexit deal last year. Now we find that more difficulties are being heaped on our fishermen with this Russian military exercise bringing 140 warships and 10,000 sailors to take part in this exercise. It looks like it is the fault of this and previous Governments to allow this to happen as the Irish have a lack of primary radar. Other countries know this and some have been probing our air spaces and seas for years due to this. It is high time, therefore, to stop talking and chasing Russians who are falling around and laughing at us but instead to cut out any blindspots we have in our own country itself.

As I said earlier when talking about Europe, fishing and farming, of course, very much comes to mind. The price of fertiliser has gone through the roof for farmers. Many will go under if the Government stands idly by. We are talking about increases for some farmers of between €10,000 and €20,000 for fertiliser this year and perhaps even more. At last week's meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which I attended as a member, there were many ways that Mr. Santini, deputy head of unit at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, explained where Ireland can intervene itself in its own State. We are talking today, however, about European intervention and, yes, the Government will say that the price of gas is the issue, as Europe’s green agenda is pushing us near the edge. The issue of tariffs on fertilisers is another nail in the coffin for the Irish farmer. Can the Minister of State tell us what the Government has done in Europe to ease the pressure on Irish farmers caused by the high cost of fertilisers? Perhaps he might answer that question later because it is a very significant and worrying issue for many farmers who are trying to buy fertiliser at the moment and cannot.

Why have negotiations on the fishing industry not yielded success? We all know the filthy deal this Government signed up to last year. When the dust has settled now, how can our fellow European countries involved in fishing call this a fair deal? Some European countries fared fairly well but the Irish were left with a shocking bad deal and I ask for him to explain where and what has happened since.

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