Seanad debates

Thursday, 13 July 2017

10:30 am

Photo of Trevor Ó ClochartaighTrevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá mé ag ardú ceist ar maidin a ardaíodh sna meáin ag an deireadh seachtaine maidir leis na cuotaí iascaireachta atá á roinnt amach, go háirid an cuóta ronnach. There were reports at the weekend regarding the allocation of the mackerel quota. Several spokespersons from various organisations involved in the fishing and processing industry have aired concerns that a legal challenge may be brought against the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, if he intends reviewing the mackerel quota for it to be allocated in a different manner to the current situation, which is that 87% of the quota is hived off to 23 fishing ships in the north west of the country. The bigger issue is that the Minister must stay independent in his decision making and that the processing industry and the jobs it provides and the fishing fleet, particularly in the west and south west, are very dependent on this quota. For a very long time we have been calling for a more equitable redistribution of the quota. It is unacceptable that threats of this type are being made before the Minister makes a decision. I call on him to stand firm and to make the right and equitable decision in regard to the quota.

The bigger picture is that a review of the Common Fisheries Policy is needed. Is Ireland getting its fair share of the overall fishing grounds and the available stock of fish in European waters? By reference to many of the available figures, it is not. There are huge implications to the British Government pulling out of the London Fisheries Convention and Brexit will have further massive implications for the fisheries quota. The Minister should come to the House to give Members a clear picture of what the Government's stance will be in those negotiations, particularly in terms of Brexit, and why the Government is not willing to engage in a re-negotiation of the Common Fisheries Policy. The scale of Ireland's fishing grounds compared to the minuscule quotas for different species that have the result of pitching different fishing organisations in the country against each other is totally and utterly unacceptable. There needs to be a review of the Common Fisheries Policy.

I note that the OECD review of the Government's second public service reform programme says that outsourced initiatives, including JobPath, are questionable and have not emerged as systemically-viable options for public service provision. Many Members have heard in their constituencies of huge issues in regard to the JobPath programme and that it is not progressing people to employment. Several weeks ago, I raised the issue of a 62-year-old woman who was asked to make a 90 km round trip to attend an appointment with JobPath and there was no public transport available for that journey. Thankfully, she got a letter to say that she would no longer need to apply but her sister got a letter saying that she would have to go to a JobPath interview. That shows how ridiculous the situation is, that JobPath must be addressed because it is not working and that the outsourcing to private for-profit companies of such job activation schemes is not the best way to go. I call for a debate on both JobPath and the OECD review and also the renegotiation of the Common Fisheries Policy.

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