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

The Minister knows that in France and Spain, there has been a significant intervention, which has certainly helped their fleets. When I say "unprecedented", as the Minister will be aware, I mean all the producer organisations, including all those from the islands, IFA aquaculture representatives and fisheries local action groups. I have never seen every organisation unite. Some of them have certainly united previously but this is all of them, the entire sector, uniting to tell the Minister they cannot go to sea or afford all the input costs they face. This is an unprecedented crisis on the back of a loss of quota due to Brexit. To be clear, the BAR fund is a separate matter to intervening now in what is a serious threat to the future of our industry, as the Minister will know having met fishers. They cannot afford to go to sea.

The fuel price at which they can make a profit is 60 cent per litre but it now costs €1.30 per litre. That is an impossible challenge for them and there has to be some form of financial aid package to keep them at sea.

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