Jimmy Harte (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Gallagher, MEP, as a fellow Donegal man. I join with others in paying my respects and offer sympathy to the family of Mr. Bernard McGlinchey on his recent passing. I served on Letterkenny Town Council with him. He was a tough but fair opponent and he was always available for advice, which we could be sure was sound. We did not always agree politically but he was a Letterkenny man first and a Fianna Fáil man second, and people recognised that anything he did was for the benefit of the town and surrounding area. There will be another day when we can pay respects but I know he was a good friend of our guest. He will be missed by the Fianna Fáil Party in Donegal and his family and friends.

Mr. Gallagher, MEP, has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the fishing industry.

As Senator Ó Domhnaill said, that is his background but he has worked tirelessly on behalf of the fishing industry nationally and locally in Donegal where it is as important an employer locally as it is in other parts of the country. Last year, I was on holiday in southern France and I visited a local hypermarket where I noticed lobster from Donegal. It was nice to see Atlanfish products on the shelves. There is a massive opportunity for the industry to extend further into Europe and beyond to the Far East.

Sustainability is at the heart of the CFP and we must adhere to the maximum sustainable yield. Science is paving the way for us rather than politics in Europe and it is important that nationalism does not come into this. Iceland and the Faroe Islands have decided their own rules for mackerel fisheries. People say we should follow the economic policy implemented by Iceland but they have had to break the law to keep their economy going. This is not fair on the fishermen of Donegal, Galway, Kerry and throughout the EU who are sticking to the rules. The people who say the Icelandic model should be followed because their economy is picking up again must look beyond that and recognise our fishing industry could be affected. Iceland should be sanctioned and I am sure Mr. Gallagher can fill us in on what he knows about this. None of us wants a country to be targeted but when its blatant rule breaches affect us, we should be concerned. Many jobs in Ireland and in Donegal, in particular, depend on fishing and the industry will expand with the increasing demand for fish worldwide.

How worried should we be about the so-called super vessels such as the Dutch vessel,which, at 142 m long, is the second largest on the planet? Does this indicate that the industry is in the hands of large operators who have contributed to overfishing of the seas and to the decline in the numbers of small, independent fishermen? Will the signal to end overfishing help to change this trend?

Small fishermen feel the new discard regime is being brought in too soon. It will be introduced in January 2014 rather than 2015 and they are protesting about the cost of new equipment they will need and the risk that fishermen with older boats may be forced out of the industry. How does Mr. Gallagher feel about that?

Does he think our fishing industry will progress? Will there be general agreement throughout Europe? Will countries such as Spain and the Netherlands, which have large fishing fleets, stick to the rules or will they muscle their way past Ireland? One of the flaws of our accession to the EEC in 1973 was that our fishing industry was compromised and we have been catching up ever since. However, I agree with Mr. Gallagher that the officials who have been in negotiations since that time, including him, have done a fantastic job. He has been one of the key players in Europe in protecting the industry and I congratulate him on his work. Will large operators and member states with large fleets adhere to the rules? Will Ireland get a fair deal at the end of the day? I thank Mr. Gallagher MEP.