88. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will report on his plan to save the fishing and seafood industry from the impact of the proposed devastating cuts to the mackerel, blue whiting and boarfish quotas; and the financial aid that will be provided to the affected businesses and workers. [54988/25]

Sentiment score: -0.20

The Minister of State and I had an extensive engagement at the fisheries committee earlier today. These proposals are devastating. There is a 70% cut to the recommended mackerel TAC, 41% for blue whiting and 22% for boarfish while a zero TAC is recommended for cod, haddock and whiting. I would like to engage with the Minister of State on the Government's plan.

Sentiment score: 0.13

As he was coming before the committee, the Minister of State will not have had a chance to hear the contributions from the fish producer organisations and the representative of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association. In all of my time, I have never seen it worse. I have been in politics for 23.5 years, representing the fishing communities around me. In all those years, I have never seen a worse situation presented. The term "economic Armageddon" was used today. Every single witness said this is the worst scenario they could ever have thought of. Why is that? Over 1 million tonnes - I had to read that again to make sure I was right - of mackerel above what was recommended in the scientific advice have been caught. Unbelievable recklessness and greed have led us to this. It has to stop. Those parties, whether corporations based in the European Union or in other countries, have to stop. They have to pay a price and we need to find a solution to save our industry.

Sentiment score: 0.05

This has to be the moment where everything changes. This has to be a radical reset of the operation of the Common Fisheries Policy. The policy talks about climate change, sustainability and those communities closest to fisheries benefiting from them. We need to expose how all of that amounts to nothing. This is apparently four times worse than what happened to us after Brexit. Brexit was an absolute disaster for our fishing communities. That is why the Brexit adjustment reserve fund was put in place. We are going to need to fight for the maximum amount of fish but we also need to look at the whole Common Fisheries Policy and this relative stability whereby it stays the same every year and nothing changes. People are looking at our waters and we are just not getting our fair share of fish. There has to be a reaction to deal with the utter failure of the European Commission to deal with some of those most reckless actions in the history of fishing. It is unbelievably stupid and self-defeating to wreck a precious fishery like mackerel, which belongs to all of us, from the spawning grounds off the west of Ireland right up those Atlantic coasts. The level of greed and recklessness is off the scale. They have to pay a price. It has to stop. This has to lead to a change in our approach to the whole issue of the Common Fisheries Policy.

Sentiment score: -0.20