Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of the fishing industry in general. Tomorrow week, there will be a major protest during which fishing trawlers from Killybegs, Ros an Mhíl, Castletownbere, Dingle, Kilmore Quay and all around the coastline will come up the Liffey. I am aware that many Senators and Deputies have no interest in the fishing industry whatsoever. I have been involved in public life since 1985. My concern is that a country like Belgium has a much bigger quota for certain species of fish than Ireland. The Spanish and the French have dominated the industry. We have 15% of the catch in our own waters. That is crazy. Negotiations on the Common Agricultural Policy are ongoing. Why have Governments, past or present, not renegotiated the Common Fisheries Policy to give the Irish fishers - who are men and women - a fair deal with regard to the quotas in their own waters. If our fishers fished in the coastal waters of Spain and Belgium and landed two thirds of their catch, there would be uproar in the fishing industry in Europe.I see no reason whatsoever the CFP cannot be renegotiated, because when it was agreed in 1973, Ireland got a very bad deal. We were under-represented. The catches were not properly processed and claimed, and since then the Irish fishing fleet has suffered. Fish are getting scarce. Fishing boats will soon be tied up and the fishermen, like some of the fish, are an endangered species. I ask the Leader for a debate on the issue. Let us not wait until next year or whenever else. There is a major protest organised for Dublin next Wednesday. I urge that we have a debate to coincide with the protest, either the day before or during the protest tomorrow week.