Conor D McGuinness warns of 'managed decline' in fishing industry

Minister, you don't need me to tell you that there's 2,300 conservative estimate jobs in our coastal communities in jeopardy at the moment because of the quota deal reached in December last year, and the wider economic hit could reach 200 million euros. In ports like Dumoury, to my own county of Waterford, families are asking whether there is a future for them and for their industry at all. When you step back and you look at the decisions and the attitudes of successive governments, their actions, or critically, I suppose, their inaction, it's impossible to not arrive at a conclusion that what we're witnessing now is the outworking of a managed decline, and the slow, steady concentration, and then reduction of our indigenous fishing industry. The hollowing out decade after decade of a noble, sustainable and economically vital way of life. And what do we get then? Well, we get acquiescence, we get silence, we get hand-wringing, and Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael politicians offering tea and sympathy, promising to listen but failing to hear, saying something must be done while steadfastly refusing to do anything that would actually arrest that decline. And now, on this side of the house, the industry advocates for coastal communities, what we're reduced to is calling for life support, Minister. And even that is delayed, even that is negotiated, and even that's made contingent. Irish fishermen have abided by the rules. They've tied up their vessels when they've been asked, they've taken the quota cuts, they've taken them on the chin minister, they've invested in sustainability. And meanwhile, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Poland, moved to block the invocation of ARHAG preferences, protecting their interests and the interests of a number of corporations while ours were exposed. And did government even take legal advice on challenging this? I mean, I think that's an important question that has to be put. Was legal advice sought on challenging this? In advance of the December negotiations, I raise this directly with the Taoiseach, and I urge them to intervene as head of government at that level, to intervene with other heads of government, with national delegations, and freedom of information records show he did precisely nothing. He met with the industry, but he didn't lift the phone. Decades of deflection reached their pinnacle in the political abandonment of you, Minister, I would say your negotiating team, your officials, and our fleet and coastal communities by the Taoiseach and the Taoiseach in December last year. Another member states they fight hard for their fleets. They are heads of government, they pick up the phone, they build those alliances, they draw red lines, but in Ireland the head of government is set in his hands. Let us take one example, Belgium. 450 tons of soil in Irish waters. The entire Irish fleet was left with just 28 tons. Belgium has less than half the coastline of Waterford. 450 tons of soil in Irish waters. The Irish fishing fleet left with just 28 tons. This is a recurring pattern across fisheries that affects mackerel, prawns, and other key stocks. And this isn't just about conservation. And conservation matters. It is critical. But stocks must be protected. Science must guide us. But it's not a conservation crisis alone. It's about fair access. It's about sovereignty. So when our state provides some of the richest fishing waters in Europe, where it repeatedly sees its own fleets marginalised, people are entitled to ask serious questions. There are plenty of fish in our waters to sustain our industry and to meet our conservation objectives. But we're not doing that. There can't be any return to business as usual, Minister. An already fragile industry has been placed in a fatal course unless there's a radical reset in Ireland and in how we approach fisheries policy at the European level. And you know I come from a coastal community and a coastal county. I represent communities where fishing is not just an item, it's not just an economic activity, but it's a living tradition. And families in Dunmore East and Helvik, Passage East, all along our coast, Bunmahan, they've given generations to this industry. It's skilled work, it's dangerous work, it's honest work, and it underpins processors, hauliers, chandlers, small local businesses right across the southeast. But it's now dangerously close to the point of no return. And some would argue that it is long past that. And that's why we need urgent action. The task force that you've established should have been established before now, but we welcome that it's finally in place. But it must not become just another talking shop. The terms of reference must reflect what the seafood sector has demanded, and its recommendations must be acted on quickly. And I think we need a commitment from government that its recommendations will be taken seriously. And you can understand the cynicism of coastal communities in the industry, because every time they see a task force, punishment generally follows. We need adequate financial support for fishermen and seafood producers over the coming years. We also need a clear plan to secure a fair allocation of fish under the common fisheries policy, or we need to be done with it. We need to draw red lines, and we need to talk very, very seriously with our European partners about this. And crucially, Minister, and I know you've heard us on this, we need to back our inshore sector. We support the demands by the National Inshore Fishermen's Association and others for income stabilisation and compensation schemes, because it works in agriculture. We see farmers benefiting from similar. We need to see something now as this industry is in crisis. So for too long, we've seen this acquiescence and silence, the hand-wringing minister. We need a new departure and we need it now.