I welcome representatives from the fishing industry who are here in the Gallery today, particularly John Lynch from Howth. The Fisheries Council meeting which took place in Brussels last week can be described as nothing short of a disaster for Ireland’s fishing industry. It is extremely important that we put into perspective how much Irish society relies on the fishing industry. More than 15,000 people are working in the seafood sector, there are 101 seafood processors, and the industry contributes €1.3 billion to our economy annually. Critically, it provides Irish people with food security. Those who work in our seafood sector, be it on the water itself or in the processing sector on land, ensure Irish people have reliable and consistent access to food. We can not underestimate the importance of this, given the current geopolitical climate and the weaponisation of food in some corners of the globe. The outcome of the Fisheries Council places all of this at risk. Fishing organisations estimate that the EU fishing quotas could cost up to 2,300 jobs. What are these people to do? The fishing industry is all they know. Are they expected to learn a new trade and no longer follow their family’s tradition? What will this cost the State when these people have no access to income and must seek assistance from the Department of Social Protection? What destruction will this cause to coastal communities right across Ireland? The industry will have approximately 57,000 tonnes less to fish next year and is facing a quota reduction to the value of €94 million and a possible loss of €200 million when we consider processing, logistics and export. This is simply devastating. We must be honest here and call out the countries which orchestrated this attack on Ireland. Clearly, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Latvia and Denmark have their fingerprints all over this orchestrated attack on the Irish fishing industry. These larger countries are attempting to bully Ireland and we must not let them. Let us not forget that these are the countries that have benefited the most from Ireland paying 40% of the transfers to the UK to retain access to UK waters in the aftermath of Brexit. We must have a return as a matter of urgency to the Hague preferences and we must stand up to these countries and to Europe. The European Commission has failed to uphold its obligation to deliver an agreed and balanced outcome and has offered no support to a smaller member state such as Ireland that has been effectively overpowered by a dominant blocking minority. I urge the Minister and the Taoiseach to consider formally writing to the Commission or the President of the Council to restate that the Hague preferences form an integral part of the Common Fisheries Policy. The Hague preferences were designed to provide Ireland with safeguards in the event of declining fish stocks in return for permitting other member states to fish within Ireland’s EEZ. That understanding has now been undermined and Ireland should notify the Commission that, as a consequence, the Common Fishery Policy will cease to apply from 1 January 2026, with Irish waters closed to all states other than the UK from that date. Responsibility for the mackerel dispute rests squarely with Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Russia, all of which have unilaterally set mackerel quotas far in excess of their historical entitlements. The Commission has repeatedly failed to address this situation by not leveraging access to EU markets as an effective means of enforcement. Our permanent representation in Brussels also has to stand up and fight this. We also have to properly equip our Defence Forces so that they have the real, practical capacity to prevent overfishing. This means ensuring our Naval Service has the vessels, technology and personnel required to patrol our waters effectively, enforce quotas and hold those who are breaking the rules to account. If we are serious about the sustainability of the fishing industry, about protecting fish stocks for future generations, and about defending the livelihoods of our coastal communities, then enforcement cannot be an afterthought. We must consider all of our options here and not allow ourselves to be bullied by a minority group who think they can throw their weight around. The industry will be decimated otherwise. Thousands of jobs are at risk here. We owe it to those people to act and to ensure that their livelihoods are protected.

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