Government has the wrong man at the negotiating table to get a fair deal for Irish fishermen – Pádraig MacLochlainn and Conor D. McGuinness
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Fisheries and the Marine, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD, has said the government has the wrong man at the negotiating table to get a fair deal for Irish fishermen as European fisheries ministers meet in Cork today and tomorrow.
Deputy Mac Lochlainn criticised the government for having the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, chair the meeting rather than the Minister for Fisheries, Timmy Dooley.
Ahead of the meeting, Conor D. McGuinness TD, the Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, will today meet with European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, to discuss a number of critical issues facing Ireland’s fishing and maritime sectors.
Teachta Mac Lochlainn said:
“More than ever, we need the government to use the opportunity of Ireland’s Presidency of the EU Council to challenge the unjust Common Fisheries Policy, but we have the wrong Minister at the negotiating table.
“There appears to be a serious rift within government between Fine Gael’s Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, and Fianna Fáil’s Minister of State for Fisheries Timmy Dooley over the handling of the EU’s Fisheries Council meetings during Ireland’s EU presidency.
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have failed the Irish fishing and seafood industry for decades – the Common Fisheries Policy has been a vehicle to plunder huge wealth from the Irish people in the seas around us.
“Now a squabble between the two parties sees the wrong man put forward to represent Ireland’s interests with the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, representing Ireland at the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries, rather than our actual Minister for Fisheries, Timmy Dooley.”
Teachta McGuinness said:
“Our industry is facing enormous challenges and there are issues that require urgent action at European level, and I will bring the concerns of Ireland’s fishing and coastal communities directly to the European Commissioner responsible for fisheries.
“Foremost among them is the need for fundamental reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. The CFP is manifestly unjust. It has failed Ireland, it has long undermined our fishing industry, and it has decimated our coastal communities. The CFP is rooted in a historic injustice that has left Irish fishermen with a miniscule share of fish in our own waters.
“The fact that Belgium, with a coastline shorter than that of County Waterford alone, can have access to larger quotas for some species in Irish waters than the entire Irish fishing fleet illustrates just how unfair the current arrangements have become. That inequity cannot continue.
“Fishing remains central to Ireland’s economy, identity and future of many coastal communities. Europe must recognise the pressures facing the sector and be prepared to deliver meaningful reform that gives Irish fishermen and coastal communities a fair deal.”
