Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, to the House. I do not want to go through the history of the fishing industry and the raw deal we got in 1973 where we ended up with 4% of the quotas with in excess of 20% of the coastal waters. For every 1 tonne of fish caught by Irish vessels over the years 20 tonnes were taken out of Irish waters by other EU vessels. That is historical and I cannot blame the Minister of State. We need to move on.

I have been calling for this debate for some time and I am glad we are having it today. The one good omen coming through is the 30% increase in mackerel quota in the pelagic sector, which I welcome. The mackerel quota for 2008 was divided as follows. The 23 ring-fenced super-trawlers, the RSWs, got 42,000 tonnes, the polyvalent fleet got 7,000 tonnes within which is included boats that were jigging gillnet and other over 65 ft vessels also. The proposed 16,000-tonne increase in the mackerel quota for Ireland in 2009 is welcome and I urge that at least 50% of this should be provided to the polyvalent fleet, which supplies four processing factories in Rossaveal, Dingle, Baltimore and Castletownbere, employing more than 300 people. It is a reasonable demand that they should seek 8,000 tonnes of the increased quota.

In one sense I must be mindful of the Cawley report, but in another sense I must mindful that in the past ten years nine processing factories in the south and west of the country have closed. One part of the policy is to promote jobs in onshore processing. If there is not an increase in the mackerel quota to the polyvalent sector, other factories will close. Recently a factory in south Wexford closed owing to lack of supplies. While I am not being in any way disparaging, of the 23 RSW super-trawlers with their 42,000 tonnes quota, 70% is landed in Norway or possibly Scotland. As the Minister of State pointed out, Norwegians are offering higher prices for fish. However, we must be mindful that it is a long trip to Norway if we are trying to secure jobs onshore.

The majority of the 23 super-trawlers that land their mackerel abroad have been ring-fenced and have not been affected by decommissioning etc. through the years. The polyvalent fleet that has a small mackerel quota has landed up to 90% of its fish in this country. In addition, the herring quota in the Celtic Sea, traditionally fished by the polyvalent fleet, has been reduced to approximately 5,500 tonnes in 2009 from more than 20,000 tonnes ten years ago. This will cause great financial hardship within the polyvalent sector and, without the increase in the mackerel allocation, would make the four factories that employ more than 300 people unsustainable in the future.

All the pain of decommissioning has been in the polyvalent sector. In the Castletownbere co-operative, for example, a fleet with 65 trawlers employed 325 men five years ago. After the last round of decommissioning only 30 trawlers are left employing 150. There has been a loss of 175 jobs and 35 vessels. That is critical. We can talk about decommissioning and we needed to go down that road. Even having taken out the number of boats decommissioned, which were almost exclusively in the polyvalent sector, there was a view that there would be extra quota for the remaining boats and that it would be sustainable for the fishermen and their families. However, that is not what is emerging, which is of great concern.

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority views its role as taking over from what the Department and possibly the Naval Service were doing up to now. I believe there is over-policing. I am not saying this because of the day that is in it. If there was the same pro rata policing in certain areas of Limerick or Dublin we would not have the crimes that are being committed at the moment. That matter should be addressed. There are too many of these officers. In many instances when I am down in Castletownbere there are more of them around than there are fishermen. They will certainly outnumber the number of trawlers the way we are going.

The Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, spoke enthusiastically about the aquaculture and mariculture sector. Based on my experience to date, I do not share the optimism of the Minister of State. I am very pessimistic about the future of that sector. The mussel industry was supposed to develop and expand — it was once planned to reach 30,000 tonnes. However, that industry is contracting. The new science on toxin levels may be an area for another Minister. While we are leading lights in Europe, the way we are going, not only will we close down mussel harvesting and the factories involved, but it will also affect oysters and other types of fish. I have heard of serious concern not necessarily just from those involved in the mussel industry, but also from the Irish Shellfish Association. I compliment BIM on the work it has done in promoting fish and our fish exports. For decades I have advocated that we should have onshore processing in all these areas to create jobs ashore and have added value when we export these products. BIM is spending considerable money promoting this and opening markets. However, much of that is being curtailed.

One example occurred in my own neck of the woods. Bantry Bay Seafoods spent approximately €5 million building up a market in America and promoting its product in 700 outlets. In one incident, information outside its remit was volunteered to the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, on what was happening in this country. The exports complied with the strictest Irish and European standards but as I found in consultation with the FDA, it was mesmerised in that we, as a small country of approximately 4 million, have the Food Safety Authority of Ireland — which is meant to be the leading light in food safety — and another body delegated to work in that area, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA. The United States has a population of 300 million and it has the FDA alone. It could not understand why we have two bodies monitoring the same area. There seemed to be a conflict of interest and in that instance it was like two bulls fighting over a heifer going to dairy to see who would be the leading light.

They have destroyed an export market that took seven years to set up. Never again, while grass grows or water flows, will the United States have any interest in the import of Irish seafood, be it mussels, oysters, clams or other types of fish. We have done significant damage to our reputation over recent years.

I know there are not many speakers on this issue but I beg the Acting Chairman's indulgence as I complete a number of points. I emphasise what Senator Bradford has said in that the anger in coastal communities was set out in the result of the vote on the Lisbon treaty, which was severe and acute. In Castletownbere, more than 90% voted against the treaty. Schull and Baltimore are coastal areas in my constituency which were very angry about their deal from Europe. We are talking about renegotiating and so on but I am glad the Minister of State indicated in his speech that the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, may be renegotiated in some form or other.

We need a better deal for Irish fishermen and we must protect those who are left. They have gone through the toughest four years that Irish fishermen of any sense have gone through. We mentioned the question of fuel costs and we are still awaiting the famous package we hope to get from Europe in the form of emergency aid that will support the Irish fishing industry. Whether the trawlermen are in Killybegs, the west, south or Wexford, they and I cannot share the optimism referred to by the Minister of State.

There is an overlap of agencies and fishermen are overpoliced. For almost 50% of the time, most boats are tied up and the price of fish is not increasing in the way it should. I am concerned about the future of the industry, particularly with regard to quotas. The industry has contracted considerably and if a further decommissioning package were introduced, another 25% of the fleet would look to participate in it. That is sad. I mentioned one example of the Castletownbere fishing co-op in the south but I could have mentioned Union Hall fishermen's co-op or other areas seeing the same contraction. I am always up for the fight and like to be optimistic but my degree of pessimism has not waned.

I am concerned about future issues, be they the Cawley report or whatever, but we must support jobs. A mackerel quota is now coming on track. It is good news in that for the first time we are getting extra quota rather than a reduction. A fair share should be allocated among the polyvalent sector to support factories in the south. There are four left and we have lost nine, as one in Wexford closed last year. That is an acid test and if that goal is not achieved over the next two to three months, we will return with more pessimism and another sob story. I would like to be more optimistic but what I have seen in the past 12 months does not give me much cause for it.

When the Leader was in the House, he indicated we will have a later opportunity for questions and answers and the Minister of State may answer some of the questions I raised. Perhaps I will have an opportunity to come back and raise some more questions towards the end of the debate.