I welcome to the Gallery representatives of the fishing sector. I see Patrick Murphy, whom I met on Sunday, and others there. They have always had the heart of the fisherman at the forefront of their efforts. Fishers are going through a dreadful situation. The previous speaker referred to a sellout but, in fact, we did not sell out; what we had was taken away from us. If we got something for it, that might be something, but we did not. We find ourselves in a farcical situation and it has been heading that way for a long time. It has been going that way since I came into the House ten years ago. We have been turning a blind eye to small things like fuel rebates. We were calling for action and asking the Minister to look for it in Europe. No chance of that. Why bother? We are letting on to be the weak link in Europe in relation to fishing. I was very pleased when the Minister of State was appointed to his role with responsibility for fisheries. I always see huge potential in regard to fishing and I always felt fishers were thrown to the dogs but I welcomed his appointment. I know he was out there fighting his case last week but the question must be asked as to where the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister were. The Minister of State cannot stand on his own in these incredibly difficult times. When the power of the mighty is hanging like a rod over his head, it is impossible to do this on his own. They were missing in action. That is basically what happened. I know the Minister of State cannot agree with me, but they are the facts. I have been saying it for long enough here. I said it during Brexit when Barnier - to be honest, he does not deserve to be called by his first name - pulled a fast stroke on us. I pleaded with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste at the time to enter into negotiations on behalf of Ireland. It should have been the leadership of this country and not thrown over to a Frenchman to look after Irish fishing interests. We knew where that was going to go, as we all found out. I thank the Ceann Comhairle and the Chief Whip for allowing this debate, which I immediately sought on Friday night. We sent an e-mail and in fairness, over the weekend the Chief Whip and the Ceann Comhairle worked towards making sure that there was a debate and to give people a chance. Like I said yesterday, even the dogs in the street know that Ireland has always been badly treated by Europe when it comes to its fishermen. Déjà vu is once again upon us, whereby the Christmas present from Europe is the betrayal of our coastal communities. I was here when Michel Barnier gave us his word that Ireland would get a fair deal from the Brexit negotiations. As we know, he was the one who threw us under the bus. I think he has done it again this time. What we seem to forget is that the Government of the day signed up to it warning that a "No" deal was worse, but the problem for our coastal communities is that it could not be worse. We were an island nation rich with fish. Once fish were swimming up to the rocks all around our island, supporting the thousands of fishing families. Boats were on every island and filling coastal piers. This was the picture when we joined Europe in 1973. In 1976, our so-called friends in Europe set about drafting a plan, which is now known as the Common Fisheries Policy. They told us that we must regulate the fishing fleets of Europe to - guess what - protect these valuable fish stocks. They asked each country to record the fish that every fisherman was catching, while the others were already hoovering up the fish in our waters. The result was that we the Irish, with our seas full of our fish, made it so our fishermen stayed at home. We did not need to travel very far to fill our boats, only 12 miles out from our rugged shoreline. Foreign vessels were also fishing and filling their boats and sailing home out of Irish fishing grounds with Irish fish. When the figures that were collected were analysed, Ireland had little or nothing in comparison to the visiting fleets, which had it all. They said we would have to be given the opportunity to build and grow. Was that not nice of them? They set quotas to protect our abundant seas and that changed to total allowable catch, limiting each fleet to their historic records. They promised us it would ensure we would all have plenty of fish if we followed the rules. Relative stability was created. This was introduced for the benefit of coastal communities. Figures and percentages were set. They told us that when the number of fish increased, the fishermen would get to catch more. Ireland and England were given an assurance that if the plentiful stocks decreased due to overfishing, we would not suffer the same cuts as those visiting our waters, especially when they had the bigger share to begin with. They called this the Hague preferences. All agreed that this was necessary to ensure once again the relative stability for the island nations that gave access to the other foreign fleets into their sovereign waters. The Minister of State should stop me if I am wrong. This was the reality for 49 years until last Friday. Now Belgian beam trawlers can leave their ports, enter Irish waters and take home 400 tonnes of black sole, while our fishermen get 28 tonnes. Like I said, it is déjà vu: English fishermen after Brexit got 99% of Irish sea herring and we got a miserable 1%. I have some questions for the Minister of State. Will he stand with Irish fishermen and their families that go back generations? They have lost loved ones to the sea. Will he stand with those in our coastal communities who earn their living from the fish landed by our hard-working, brave and honest fishermen? Will he challenge this wrong, once and for all, and put his own people first? Does he and this Government even want us to have a fishing fleet going forward? Given that the Hague preferences were formally invoked by Ireland, lawfully blocked by a minority number of four member states, and resulted in severe quota losses for Irish fishing communities, will the Minister of State accept the political responsibility for the outcome of those negotiations and outline what he will do differently to ensure this situation is reversed? Will the Minister of State confirm that he and his officials formally invoked the Hague preferences? Could he tell us who blocked them, the minority of four member states and the cost that will fall on our country? What action did he take at Council level once it became clear that Ireland's legal safeguard was being denied? Is it not true that foreign countries are already benefiting to the tune of 85% of the stocks in Ireland's waters, and will this now increase? This is what I call theft: the application of the Hague preferences was to prevent a disproportionate impact on Ireland's pelagic and small-scale fishing fleets. Now we know the cuts are even greater, what will he do for our fishermen to stop them from losing their livelihoods and Ireland from losing its fish supply? Independent Ireland calls on the Minister of State and his Department to immediately look at the socio-economic impact this will have, not just on Ireland's seafood industry but on each category of vessel, based on its size, and the individual opportunities for the coming year, 2026. Now that it is established without doubt that the Common Fisheries Policy has failed in its legal obligations to the people of Ireland, will the Minister of State seek compensation from Europe for our coastal communities that are most dependent on these stocks, and that have been decimated by the fleets pillaging our waters? Does he believe, as I do, that we have the right to retain a viable, sustainable fishing industry ,or is it the right of mainland member states to take so much that it destroys the resource itself? My final questions relate to why some countries with so little to lose stood against us. In the Minister of State's meeting with his Polish colleague, did he give an explanation as to why for the first time in 49 years, they chose in 2026 to deny our right to invoke the Hague preferences?

Sentiment score: 0.05

I have very little time. This has to be appealed in every court in our land and in Europe. We have to stand up to them. It is up to the Minister of State. It is up to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It is up to this Government to now stand with Irish fishermen. If it does not, and we see that happen in the next month, it will be an abject failure and the Government will be to blame.

Sentiment score: -0.07