Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

I support the request for the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to come to the House soon – before December if possible. Each December there is an annual ritual in Brussels where quotas are divided for the following year and the indications are that the discussions this year will be even more serious. I know from my time as spokesperson on the marine and natural resources in the Dáil that there has been concern over the erosion of fishing rights and the influence the Spanish and French wield in these discussions. It would be worth having the Minister come to the Seanad in advance in order that we could show our concern for the fishing industry, which is under a lot of pressure. Anyone reading the newspapers recently will see that there is talk of a total ban on fishing certain species to preserve stocks. There is much irresponsible conduct on the part of so-called flagship trawlers fishing off our coasts and raping our fisheries, something they have been doing for many years.