Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)

I welcome Deputy Dooley’s new Ministry and wish him the best of luck in his work. There is much to be done.

The marine sector in this country has faced unbelievable challenges in recent years. Many of these hardships have been the direct result of Government policy and legislation and the implementation and interpretation of those policies and that legislation. Ongoing discrimination under the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy means that Irish fishermen are watching in growing frustration and anger as their rights to fish in our waters are eroded. While other member states reap the rewards in Irish waters, our own fleet continues to be sidelined.

Under current arrangements, Ireland’s coastal share of fish is projected to shrink by approximately 15% over the next six years, well above the average European reduction of under 10%. This is deeply unjust. Irish fishing interests are being repeatedly sidelined by Europe. The chief executive of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation, Mr. O’Donnell, put it perfectly when he said, “We’re watching our industry being dismantled in slow motion, while others thrive in our rich waters.” Irish fishermen are faced with excessive regulation and criminal sanctions for minor infringements. This is deterring Irish and foreign vessels from off-loading in Irish ports. We have huge processing facilities that will not benefit from these catches because of how excessive our enforcement and restrictions are. Instead, boats are off-loading in countries like Belgium and Norway, where the regulatory environment is more welcoming.

We need to immediately amend the penalty point system that unfairly punishes Irish fishermen. How is it that the Belgian fleet holds 59% of the total EU fish quota for the Celtic Sea, while we have just 20%? We need the Minister of State to be a strong voice in Europe to fight for fair fishing quotas as well as fair and proportional oversight of our control systems. We should not hand over the wealth of our seas to EU countries to make their fortune while Irish fisheries languish.

Speaking off the cuff, I was at the fisheries committee meeting yesterday. I am from an inland county. It was very sad to hear the testimonies of the representatives for the producers and catchers. They spoke about trawlers being tied up for months and months and whole communities having been devastated. Fish processing factories with huge investments that have done their best to be as accommodating of fishing controls as possible are lying idle. Belgian trawlers will not unload in Irish harbours. If there has been a slight bit of overfishing and they unload in Belgium, they will get a fine of maybe €300, whereas if they unload in Ireland, they will get a criminal record. That has to be addressed. Who is the SFPA answerable to? Who does it answer to? The chain of command there and the line of answering have to be looked into. There was an incident about a year ago in the south east where 25 armed gardaí arrived into a factory. Our fishermen are being overly penalised and this needs to be addressed.