To start with, we in Independent Ireland extend our sincere sympathies to the families of all those who lost their lives in Australia in the past few days as a result of the Bondi Beach tragedy. What happened last Friday in Brussels was nothing short of a disgrace. It was a betrayal of the Irish fishing industry and of every costal community in this country. Ireland has been stabbed in the back by those who call themselves our European partners. The outcome of the EU Fisheries Council negotiations for 2026 quotas represents a black day for Ireland. It is a day that will never be forgotten by our fisherman. For decades, Ireland has played by the rules. Since 1973, we have opened our rich waters to Europe under the Common Fisheries Policy. We gave access and we sacrificed. In return, we were promised a measure of fairness, a safeguard called the Hague preferences. That was our crumb of comfort when cuts were imposed. Last Friday, that safeguard was ripped away. It was blocked deliberately by the Netherlands, backed by France, Germany and, shamefully, Poland, which had pledged support but which turned its back when it mattered. The Netherlands, with its factory ships and super-trawlers, already dominates our waters. It control fleets across Europe. It has now ensured its dominance will continue, while Irish fishermen are left to rot. The countries involved have declared war on the Irish fishing fleet. Let us talk facts. Belgian beam trawlers will haul 400 tonnes of black sole from Irish waters in 2026. Irish fishermen will catch just 28 tonnes in our own waters. We are staring down the barrel of a loss of over €100 million in quota value, a hit of more than €200 million to wider seafood sector and more than 2,500 jobs gone from communities that have already been gutted by years of EU mismanagement and Government indifference. Let us not forget that this is not the first time. We were sold out during the Brexit negotiations. A deal struck at Christmas that year gutted our industry, and now we are here again. We depended on Barnier that time and he stuck us on the double. Now, it is another Christmas, another blow, another betrayal. The amount of fish we will be allowed to catch in 2026 in the waters off our coast will be less than 9%, while others have increased their shares to 91% as a result of this action. Where is relative stability now? Those involved blocked the Hague preferences and secured their own access. They did all of that under the banner of European solidarity. Solidarity - I hate to say it - my arse; this is piracy dressed up as policy. I say this plainly. Ireland has been betrayed. The Common Fisheries Policy is corrupt. It is designed to serve the interests of the big players, such as the Netherlands, France and Germany, while crushing small coastal nations like ourselves. What do we get from our Government? Silence and platitudes. There is no fight, no backbone and no defence of our people. Where were the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the senior Minister last weekend? The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, was there, but where were the rest? We need a full scale political response. We need to challenge this injustice at every level. We need to-----
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-----protect what is left of our industry before it is whipped off the map. If we do not, mark my words, the Irish fishing industry will not survive another decade.
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Will the Government challenge this in courts going forward?
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Let us be honest: a task force is political theatre. It will not restore quotas, it will not save jobs and it will not undo the betrayal of last Friday. Ireland has been stripped of the Hague preferences, with our share cut to less than 9% while others walked away with 91%. That is piracy, not partnership. I met many trawler owners in Castletownbere on Sunday. They tell me that 30 articulated lorries come into Castletownbere every week and leave it with Irish fish out of Belgian, Spanish, French, UK and German trawlers. They are robbing our Irish fish in our Irish water and taking it into their countries while we stand idly by and accept this. I am not asking for another committee or report. Will the Government take this fight to the highest court possible? Will it challenge this corrupt decision by legal means or will it stand by while Dutch super-trawlers plunder our waters and Irish coastal communities are wiped off the map? Let us have no more excuses. Will the Government fight or will it surrender?
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