I was encouraged to hear the Minister of State's commitment to using every lever available to him at European Union level to address this because we are at an absolute crisis point for Ireland's fishing industry. I also heard him couch that within the geopolitical pressures this Government faces as a member state of the European Union, but there are obviously concerns. The guarantees given to us during Brexit negotiations are not worth the paper they are written on. Fishing communities up and down the country are facing a cut of one third of our fishing quotas. When I say the fishing industry, it is important to remember that this is our heritage. These are our communities, coastal livelihoods and traditions that are under threat. We have heard that cut of one third in quotas potentially threatens thousands of jobs. We also face the massive knock-on impact of this crisis on those communities up and down the coast, which will see less money in their local economies as a direct result of this quota cut. They are no strangers to hardship in these communities that have walked on a cliff edge since the introduction of the Common Fisheries Policy. The Brexit deal, where their rights were further eroded in the interests of getting a deal done, further pushed them towards the edge. They are now simply in freefall. We need those communities to be protected and supported because right now they feel abandoned. Tá traidisiúin iascaireachta na tíre i gcontúirt. Caithfear dul i ngleic leis na fadhbanna atá roimh na pobail ar fud chósta na hÉireann. Ní féidir neamhaird a thabhairt ar a gcruachás níos mó. Ní féidir le maireachtáil le dhá thrian den ioncam a bhí acu, agus níl aon dóchas á thabhairt dóibh. There has long been an understanding at EU level when it comes to fisheries policy that Ireland contributes far more than we get back. To allay concerns we were given reassurances that such drastic falls in quotas as we are seeing would not happen. The Hague preferences were first introduced in the seventies to acknowledge that when the overall total allowable catch falls, that our coastal communities are not left with an even smaller share, which threatens their ability to survive and their viability as a community. We have since then seen total betrayal of those principles and a betrayal of Irish fishers at EU level. We need to have confidence that fishing can happen at Irish and EU level in a sustainable way, which protects fishing stocks and allows small fishers to make a living. However, for that to happen we need to give these goals the priority they need in making deals at EU level. We have seen how those deals, be they quota negotiations or Brexit, have left our fishing communities behind. We cannot allow this pattern to continue.

Sentiment score: -0.09