Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Leader on his engagement. I wish him and his partner well and the very best of luck for the future. I would also like to express my sympathy to the Deasy and Hanafin families on the deaths of Austin Deasy and Des Hanafin. I hope the Leader will provide time for us to express sympathy to the families at a future date. The two deceased were former Members of the House.

I would like to support a number of other Senators who spoke in respect of Brexit. I congratulate the Brexit committee, under the chairmanship of Senator Richmond, on launching its report today. It was a very well done report and the committee is to be congratulated for the hard work it put into compiling and launching it.

Will the Leader ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to come before the House to discuss the decision of the UK on fishing in its waters? It will have a significant effect on the fishing industry in Ireland and Europe. We need a debate on this issue. The British want Ireland to pull out of the EU. It is well known that quite a number of politicians in the UK would like Ireland to pull out of the EU because there would be a ready-made border between the British Isles and Europe. There would be no problem in Ireland and it would suit the British if there was a water rather than land border. It is also well known that the House of Lords compiled a report and quite a number of Lords, including Lord Howard, want Ireland to pull out of the EU. A recent report suggested that Ireland would be better off out of the EU. While are firmly European and are committed to Europe, it is important that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine come to the House to discuss fishing in British waters. I am of the view that Britain will raise every issue against us in order to weaken our case and try to get us to pull out of Europe.