Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader arrange a debate, certainly before Christmas, on the fishing sector? I raised this matter probably on four occasions earlier this year, but because the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, was tied up with the European Presidency, I did not push it too much. If at all possible, we should have a substantial debate on the sector, particularly the problem with whitefish quotas. Fishermen have a predicament. It is like asking everyone driving on the motorway to stay within a 30 mph limit. I am sure there would be chaos on the roads. With the restriction on quotas, that is what fishermen are being asked to do.

I concur in principle with the Labour Party leader, Senator Ivana Bacik, on the items my party leader is opposing. I was at the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality and listened intently to what the Minister had to say. There are two dangers. First, we must be careful not to duplicate the debate. Second, I ask Senators to look at this issue carefully. If there are matters of importance, certainly they should be brought to the attention of the House, but there are so many of these motions coming through that if there was an hour's debate on each of them, it would tie the Seanad to having a rerun of what happened at the committee. There is a real danger of that happening. I urge caution rather than merely playing politics whereby every one of these motions must be doubly or trebly scrutinised. The committee system has been in place for a long time. We give it great praise and credit, yet we are saying the committee did not do a good job yesterday. The matter received a great hearing and the Minister was present. I urge caution in stating every one of these motions should be opposed, especially when they have been debated in committee. If there are specific issues of major importance, certainly they should be brought to the attention of the House, but doing so for the sake of it is not progress as far as this House is concerned.