Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree wholeheartedly with Senator McDowell's contribution. In terms of the report and collusion - it is reprehensible. There is no other word to describe it, to be frank about it. Everybody who lost their lives on this island, irrespective of what side they were on, were cherished by loved ones. They had families. They had parents. Some of them had children. We need to reflect on that. What happened to the wall in Glasnevin Cemetery is appalling. To think that we have to give up because of vandals is terrible. There is a lot to be said for leaving the wall in its vandalised state as a symbol of the hatred that exists in our society. We all have to fight against that type of hatred. We all have to identify ways and means of eliminating that type of hatred from our society.

I would like a debate specifically on the fishing industry. Fisheries received notoriety in recent weeks because of the situation with the Russian army and the exercises that were due to take place off the Cork coast, but there is a very serious side to fishing in this country. To think that we can only catch less than 5% of products like hake and other popular fish off Irish coastal waters. Brexit has resulted in our quota being reduced by a further 25%. This has gone unnoticed by a significant portion of our population. It is very serious because we are an island nation.

If we could reach our potential in the context of the fishing industry, it would create tens of thousands of jobs. We could process the fish and export it all over Europe and it would create tens of thousands of jobs. This is not possible because of the restricted quotas that we have as a result of the Brexit negotiations. British waters were returned to Britain, and Ireland was hit worst in the dilution of its quota by a further 25%. A quarter of what was already a small portion has been wiped off it.I do not think that is sustainable. We need to fight against that and to try to claw some of this back. Our fishermen do a great job, but we need to claw some of this back because it will create jobs. My fear is that if we do not do something about it, jobs will be lost.