Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, and I wish her well in her new brief. I echo Senator Mac Lochlainn's point regarding the importance of the fisheries sector in terms of Brexit. I commend and applaud Senator Richmond on the excellent job he did as Chairman of the committee. I had the pleasure of substituting for Senator Black at the last meeting and I thought his leadership was superb. Senator Richmond mentioned that this was an evolving document, which I will hold him to later.

On the London fisheries convention, Britain showed its teeth. We were all shocked. It did so on a Sunday when we least expected an announcement to be made on fisheries. The announcement sent a shockwave throughout Ireland. The issue of fisheries has not been addressed sufficiently in the report. In fact, it is not addressed at all. It is one of the many moving parts involved in Britain's withdrawal from the EU that should not be overlooked. Fisheries for Ireland within the Brexit debate centres on two core issues: continued access to British waters and securing Irish fishing quotas there. With 32% of all Irish landings occurring in British waters fishermen are right to be concerned about whether they will have access to these stocks following Brexit.

In regard to the UK's withdrawal from the London fisheries convention, we do not yet know the extent and scope of the framework with which the UK will replace the EU common fisheries policy. The concerns of fishermen are real. In the case of mackerel, 59% of our total quota in 2015 was taken from outside the EU's exclusive economic zone, EEZ.While fisheries has a unique set of Brexit challenges on access and quotas, it still faces overlapping issues as outlined in this report, include trade to Britain, the second largest EU destination for Irish sea food. These and other issues were raised at the meeting with the Minister yesterday. The Minister was present at the meeting to hear the concerns of fishing communities, but following the UK announcement two weeks ago we seriously need to consider making an addendum to the report to address specifically the issues of fisheries and Brexit. I call on Senator Richmond to consider facilitating this move.

Another issue of concern for myself, my group, Civil Engagement, and my party, the Green Party, is the area of environmental protection. I am very grateful to my colleague, Senator Black, for her work to ensure the inclusion of this issue in the report. The worst-case scenario for the island of Ireland and the UK would be to see the United Kingdom begin a race to the bottom on environmental protection. Greens on either side of the Border will work tirelessly to ensure that this does not happen and that the fruitful co-operation that has resulted from the Good Friday Agreement will continue.

Senator Richmond said it is an evolving document. As such, I would appreciate if the issue of fisheries were considered as well as fishing communities and the impact of Brexit on their livelihood.