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

The success of the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation, IIMRO, in obtaining producer status was welcome. Deputy Ó Cuív made a good, practical and important proposal. Any of us who engage with the IIMRO knows that it is an impressive representative and advocate.

This is a critical matter. Speaking as Sinn Féin's fisheries spokesperson, that fishing is central to island communities is the basis on which we engage in the matter. If we can engage with the IIMRO, its plans will be exciting. This is a practical and important request and I ask that the Minister deal with it urgently. It is quickly doable and would ensure the IIMRO's success.

There is a pathway for the likes of inshore fishers, given the regional and national structures available to them. There will be opportunities in that context, but the focus at this moment is on the islands' fishers.

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