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

I will return to a theme the Minister of State has heard me discuss in the past, namely, the scandal of Ireland's share of the fish in our exclusive economic zone. As the Minister of State is aware, we have an exclusive economic zone, as do all coastal countries, of 200 miles. It is estimated that we get approximately 15% to 20% of the fish in the waters of our exclusive economic zone, which are among the richest waters in the European Union. Outside of the Common Fisheries Policy, can Members imagine any self-respecting country in the world accepting such a proportion of the wealth in its seas? This precious resource should create wealth and jobs in coastal communities if we fish sustainably. One of the features of the Common Fisheries Policy is that there is generally sustainable fishing and proper oversight of what is happening at sea, which is sadly not the case in many other parts of the world.

We need to fish sustainably. We need to get a balance of fish for our inshore and offshore fishermen. That has not been attained. It is shocking that even after Brexit, when we lost another 15% of the terrible share we had, that was not given back. We got a redundancy payment called the Brexit adjustment reserve fund, which is now being used to invest in piers and harbours and decommission 60 vessels. What will that mean? I ask the Minister of State to remember this shocking statistic. Our whitefish fleet will soon be one third of the size it was in 2005. The potential of fishing in our coastal communities is being destroyed and we are not putting up a proper fight. The world is not being told of the injustice that is occurring. If we fought hard, that injustice could not be sustained because it is so profound.

The latest development tells me everything about whoever runs the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, or the Department against the marine. How can it be that every single fishing organisation in this State, from those representing local community groups and island and inshore fishermen to the co-operatives and producer organisations, has appealed and begged for financial assistance? Such assistance is being provided by almost every other European member state with a coastal fishing community. We have not done so and fishermen literally cannot afford to go to sea. We have a disgraceful share of our fish, the impact of Brexit and we now have this.

I appeal to the Minister of State, with his colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, to stand up for fishing in coastal communities in Europe and Ireland and confront the people in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine who are blocking doing what is right by our fishing communities.

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