I strongly welcome that time has been allocated to speak on the changes to the fishing quota, which will simply decimate our coastal communities. I come from a farming background, not a fishing one, but to me the parallels between these communities are clear. There is the same resilience, the same connection to the land and the sea, and the same feeling of being taken for granted. The recurring trend I am seeing time and again is a failure by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to stand up for our fishing and farming communities when it truly matters. We see it over and over from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. We get all the rhetoric, the promises of standing up for these communities, but when it comes to action to take a real stand, they are nowhere to be seen. The decision by the Netherlands, Germany, France and Poland to block the Hague preferences goes against the very essence of the European Union, the principles of mutual co-operation and respect for other member states. This was not just a policy disagreement; it was a fundamental betrayal of solidarity. Where was an Taoiseach? Where was the strong, visible leadership to stand up for Ireland's interests after that disgraceful decision? For decades, our coastal communities have been suffering death by a thousand cuts. Make no mistake, the new quotas are nothing like the cuts before. They gut what is left of Irish fisheries and leave only bones behind. How much longer will the Government stand idly by as third-country vessels operate brazenly in our waters, overfishing with few if any consequences? Our marine resources are being plundered before our eyes. EU policies have failed our coastal communities, just as they are now failing our farmers. The outsourcing of our primary food production seems to be the driving force of EU policy at the moment. This race to the bottom benefits no one but our competitors. We and our EU partners should be striving to build strong, resilient and self-sufficient food industries, just as we have built world-class beef and dairy sectors. We should be working towards a meaningful level of self-sufficiency in fisheries and across other agrifood sectors. Given the global insecurities of the present moment, the volatility and the uncertainty, this is more important than ever. We cannot stand by while the hawks in Brussels raid the CAP budget, with money that should be supporting our farmers and rural communities to be wasted on arms and bombs. A safe and secure state is a healthy and vibrant state. We cannot have a healthy, vibrant state with harbours and farmlands lying empty. True security is about food security and control over our own resources. It is about ensuring that our coastal and rural communities do not just survive but thrive.

Sentiment score: 0.06