Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on what is an important issue for me and my constituents. For those who are not from a fishing community, it can be hard to understand how much of a negative impact the EU and Brexit have had and the devastating downturn these communities have experienced in recent decades. Killybegs was once known as a very prosperous town, with the herring running free, as the famous song goes. It used to be a place where businesses thrived and work was easy to come by. The fishing season used to last from September to May, with fishermen working for most of the year, resulting in plenty of activity and business in the town. Every year for the past two decades, the season has got progressively shorter. We are now at the stage when fishermen are lucky to get a couple of weeks' work before and after Christmas. This has, of course, had a significant negative impact on a once-thriving community because it took a whole town to build and contribute to a successful fishing industry. The entire town has now taken the hit for the decline and every family has been affected. It has come at the hands of successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments, as well as successive Donegal Ministers. One can imagine how frustrating it must be for our fishermen to see other communities thrive from, and overfish in, our waters without any punishment while Irish boats struggle to get a minuscule quota. How maddening it would be to realise that the EU is in talks to give even further access to our waters to non-EU members while Irish livelihoods are at stake. How utterly devastating it would be for the Government to stand by and allow this to happen and to look fishermen in the eye and promise them the world while at the same time, they are being shafted in Europe.

Successive Ministers for the marine have, unfortunately, allowed our industry to die out, while other countries thrive from our waters. We make up 12% of all fishing grounds and waters in the Union and contribute massively while getting almost nothing in return. No other European country or European minister would accept this so why have we accepted it for so long?

The Government's mistreatment of fishermen dates back to Ireland's negotiations to join the EU and the Common Fisheries Policy. I have raised the fundamental issue of the Common Fisheries Policy numerous times over the past decade. The Irish delegation negotiating the deal had no idea of the value of what they were giving away and it was a bad deal for Ireland. Many of these issues cannot be resolved until the Common Fisheries Policy is fully renegotiated to undo the wrongs that were done to us originally. A weak negotiating stance was also taken during the Brexit negotiations. Brexit was negotiated by a French negotiator who looked after French fishermen while Ireland ended up taking the flak for most of the negotiations and was shafted.

I have criticised the EU and the negative impact it has had on our fishing communities. I am completely against the way the EU has mistreated Irish fishermen and taken complete advantage of our waters. Unlike the Government, I recognise the value of our fishing industry and would never kowtow to Europe at the expense of our citizens' livelihoods. It has been made clear that this Government has not acted in the best interests of fishermen and fishing communities. The future is looking just as bleak. I am extremely concerned about the future of the fishing industry. The Minister claims he has got an additional mackerel quota for this year at last but as I understand it, that quota is still not near the quota we had before Brexit.

I take what the Minister said during his over-and-back with Deputy Michael Collins. I hope he will hold his ground during negotiations with Iceland and will force Europe to shaft us again if that is what it is going to do. The Minister needs to stand his ground and hold it at all times. Everybody in the House will support the Minister in that but it has to happen. It must be done for the good of the Irish fishing industry and for Irish fishermen across the board.

A recent Bord Bia report shows exactly how much of a hit fishing has taken. It details that during 2023, export values in the pelagic sector fell by 31%. The volume dropped by 45% when compared with 2022. The effect of this has been felt in all our fishing towns and by all workers across the industry. At the same time, countries such as Norway have permission to catch four times as much blue whiting in Irish waters as Irish fishermen do, while not receiving any punishment for the considerable overfishing its fishers are engaged in. There is a clear disconnect and lack of respect for the Government and our fishing communities being shown by our so-called EU colleagues. I do not believe they are our colleagues because they take advantage of us at every stage along the way. It is vital that we stand up to that.

Norway and the Faroe Islands consistently and systematically overfish mackerel and blue whiting by up to 44% yearly, severely threatening Ireland's quota. We need to demand a better deal for Europe in light of this and getting a better deal for Europe means getting a better deal for Ireland, which is ultimately what our goal should be. That is vital. Recognition of the Irish Island Marine Resource Organisation, IIMRO, as a producer organisation, PO, is also vital and should happen without delay.

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