Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no big mystery here. The legislation takes an all-Ireland approach, dealing specifically with Northern Ireland without referring to Britain.It recognises the voisinagearrangement which has been the status quosince the 1960s and the reciprocal arrangement is that fishermen from the Republic will be able to exercise the same rights. The legislation in itself will not set out the conditions, and additional measures will be required to flesh that out to ensure fishing is done in a proper and appropriate way by anybody in a Northern Irish vessel coming within the 6 km zone in Irish waters. I agree completely that fishing should be carried on in a responsible and sustainable way. What we are seeing here is legislation that reflects a status quoin circumstances where there was a gap in the law. It addresses the long-standing tradition of co-operation between North and South in respect of fishing. That is not to diminish any concerns about over-fishing or industrial boats doing what they should not. That cannot be condoned.

While I welcome the regularisation of the position, we do not want any side issues. The big issue here is Brexit. A previous speaker showed us the map in that regard. This is a very scary prospect for fishermen because we know, most of us being on the agriculture committee, that fishermen differ somewhat from farmers in that they are not so dependent on Britain for an export market. They actually depend on British territorial waters to catch fish in the first place. Approximately 32% of the catch by the Irish fleet comes from British territorial waters. If a particular scenario saw the British withdraw completely from the Common Fisheries Policy, it would be an appalling vista for our fishermen who would not be able to get in and make a catch. Coupled with that would be challenges to fisheries management and sustainability. We already know that fisheries and our fishing stock are under challenge from climate change. That is both our sea and inland fisheries. The nature of fish is that they do not care too much about boundaries and territorial waters. They swim where they will. As such, we need international co-operation, in particular from our nearest neighbours or else the UK and Northern Irish fishermen might herald Brexit as a bonanza. If they fail to respect environmental considerations and quotas, any bonus they get will be short lived. There will be no fish there and we will have an even bigger problem.

There are many realities that must bite here and be taken into account. I am sure the Minister will give consideration to the deliberations of the joint committee and to the evidence and testimony provided by the fishing industry and fisheries organisations. They have serious concerns and face serious problems in respect of the industry's capacity to survive a worst-case scenario. They should be given the assurance that the very best is being done to safeguard their interests. A particular proposal from the joint committee related to concerns about the Hague preferences. The committee said that if we had a proper system of quota allocation in the first place, we would not have to apply the Hague preferences. This is something that might be addressed by the Minister in terms of how we go forward. The Minister might speak to some of the issues around Brexit which are really serious and on which we should be concentrating to help our fishermen.