Conor D McGuinness: Says EU Fisheries Deal Devastates Irish Fishing
Conor D McGuinness warned that the outcome of recent common fisheries policy negotiations represents a severe shock to the Irish fishing industry and accused government ministers and successive administrations of abdicating responsibility. He accepted that scientific advice requires cuts but argued that justice, fairness and Irish sovereignty are being ignored as Irish fishermen and coastal communities bear the burden.
McGuinness described the negotiations as one of the most severe shocks the industry has faced. He cited proposed reductions of around 70% for mackerel, deep cuts to blue whiting, significant reductions across other North Atlantic species and impacts on prawns in the Irish Sea, and said science must guide fisheries management.
He placed responsibility on the Minister of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and successive administrations, saying government parties had managed, excused and normalised a long decline. He accused other states - including the Netherlands, Germany, France and Poland - and a small number of multinational corporations of protecting their interests and undermining safeguards for Ireland.
McGuinness argued that Irish fishermen who comply with the rules are being asked to pay the price while overfishing by others continues. He said Irish waters cannot sustain the level of overfishing undertaken by EU fleets but can sustain the effort of Irish boats, and warned the sector has been pushed dangerously close to a point of no return.
He warned the process cuts to the core of democracy and the rule of law, alleging that Irish sovereign natural resources have effectively been gifted by foreign governments to private corporations. He called the outcome an abdication of responsibility and an affront to Ireland's sovereignty, raising concerns for future generations.
Critique of the common fisheries policy
McGuinness described the negotiations as one of the most severe shocks the industry has faced. He cited proposed reductions of around 70% for mackerel, deep cuts to blue whiting, significant reductions across other North Atlantic species and impacts on prawns in the Irish Sea, and said science must guide fisheries management.
Responsibility and rule of law concerns
He placed responsibility on the Minister of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and successive administrations, saying government parties had managed, excused and normalised a long decline. He accused other states - including the Netherlands, Germany, France and Poland - and a small number of multinational corporations of protecting their interests and undermining safeguards for Ireland.
Impact on fishermen and coastal communities
McGuinness argued that Irish fishermen who comply with the rules are being asked to pay the price while overfishing by others continues. He said Irish waters cannot sustain the level of overfishing undertaken by EU fleets but can sustain the effort of Irish boats, and warned the sector has been pushed dangerously close to a point of no return.
Sovereignty and democratic implications
He warned the process cuts to the core of democracy and the rule of law, alleging that Irish sovereign natural resources have effectively been gifted by foreign governments to private corporations. He called the outcome an abdication of responsibility and an affront to Ireland's sovereignty, raising concerns for future generations.
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Transcript
The outcome of the recent... ...common fisheries policy negotiations... ...represents one of the most severe shocks... ...if not the most severe shock... ...the Irish fishing industry has faced... ...in its existence. And it wasn't a sudden collapse as we know... ...it was the final shove in a long process... ...of decline that government parties... ...have managed, excused and normalised. What was already fragile... ...has now been pushed dangerously close... ...to a point of no return. And that is the responsibility... ...Minister of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael... ...and successive administrations. And the scientific advice is stark. We acknowledge that. Proposed reductions of around 70% for mackerel... ...deep cuts to blue whiting... ...and significant reductions across... ...other North Atlantic species... ...and indeed prawns in the Irish Sea. Sinn Féin accepts that science must guide... ...fisheries management. There's no dispute over that. But stock sustainability matters. But also justice and fairness matters. And science doesn't answer the political questions... ...at the heart of this particular crisis. Who's breaking the rules? Who's overfishing shared stocks? And why is it always Irish fishermen? Why is it always Ireland's coastal communities... ...that are expected to pay the price? And you said yesterday at the committee meeting... ...and I agreed with you Minister... ...that our waters cannot sustain the level of fishing... ...of overfishing... ...that has been undertaken for years... ...by the EU fishing police. Correct. We agree. No dispute there. But it can definitely sustain the fishing effort... ...of Irish fishing boats. And that's where the priority must be. And that is where the injustice in all this lies. Irish fishermen are complying with the rules... ...and suffering the consequences. Meanwhile states including the Netherlands... ...Germany, France and Poland... ...coalesce to protect their own interests. And as we've just heard from Deputy McLaughlin... ...the interests of a very small number of multinational corporations... ...that play hard and fast with the rules... ...and play hard and fast with our democracies. And I'll say it, the rule of law in many cases. They vote down safeguards for Ireland... ...and they consolidate their advantages... ...in the interests of those few corporations. And Deputy McLaughlin has already used parliamentary privilege... ...to name those Dutch corporations. And the extraordinary control that they exercise... ...over Irish fishing opportunities... ...but over the entire EU process... ...and if we're being honest... ...over negotiations between EU and third countries... ...where they also have economic presences. And this is something that cuts to the core of our democracy... ...and of European democracy. And there's not many people in the chamber... ...but it should send a chill down the spine of everybody... ...who has any interest in the environment... ...in the rule of law, in democracy or fairness. Because this government has allowed Irish sovereign natural resources... ...to be effectively gifted, not even by us in Ireland... ...not by Irish people, but by foreign governments... ...to effectively gift our natural resources... ...that are there for our generations... ...but also for future generations... ...to private corporations. And it's not partnership... ...and it's not the economy. It's an abdication of responsibility... ...and it is an affront to our sovereignty as a nation. The scale of the damage is already clear. A projected loss of 57,000 tonnes of quota in 2026... ...and an economic hit of up to 200 million a year. And I know there are various ways to quantify the monetary value of this... ...but there are estimates that put it at a fifth of a billion. And more than 2,300 jobs are on the line now, ministers... ...we face into Christmas. And that isn't lost in anyone in any single coastal community in Ireland. And there are families now wondering... ...there are skippers, there are boat owners... ...wondering how they're going to meet the December repayments on their boats. There's crews, they're scared they're going to lose income... ...but really, they don't know if they'll be fishing in January. They don't know if they will have a berth on a boat come January. And processing plants are facing closure. And the idea may be that we can prevail upon some of these foreign registered trawlers... ...and fishing operations to land their catch yet. Well, they won't because they know that we have the most extreme... ...sea fisheries protection regime... ...and they can effectively get off scot-free in their own home ports. But they're not going to be coming here. And really, should we be begging for scraps from the table? And through all of this, Minister... ...and this isn't a criticism that lands on your lap, Minister Hayden... ...but the absence of leadership from the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste has been glaring. It has been staggering. In other member states, heads of government intervene directly... ...when national interests are threatened. And that leadership was not evident here. And as Chair of the Oireachta's Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs... ...I said this and our committee looked for that... ...and I said it to the Taoiseach last Thursday. I asked him to pick up a phone and I say he didn't lift his hand, Minister... ...to do anything, to support you, to have your back in these negotiations... ...and to support, more importantly, our coastal communities. And Ireland has been treated as a soft touch in this... ...and effectively this government, the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael... ...and the Lowry Independence have allowed it to happen. And states that describe themselves as partners... ...that say all the nice things to us about solidarity and the European Union... ...and we're partners and member states and we need to maybe re-look at our neutrality... ...and we all need to step together at the European level. Well, they voted against us. They gutted us. They gutted you, Minister, at these negotiations. They blocked the Hague preferences and they stripped away the only protection... ...the only modest protection designed to prevent exactly this kind of shock... ...and that is calculated insult heaped on existing injury. And it demands a response. Not quiet disappointment, not expressions of concern, not more hand-wringing. I'm calling for an immediate diplomatic and political response... ...to signal Ireland's disgust at how we've been treated as a sovereign nation. And that means formal diplomatic demarchés. It means calling in the ambassadors of states that actively undermined Irish fisheries and Irish sovereignty. And it means making clear that access to Irish waters cannot continue as if nothing has happened. There can be no more business as usual. And there are many avenues open to you, Minister, and open to this government... ...should they choose to go down them, that are within the bounds of the law... ...but that do exert economic and political pressure on our so-called partner countries. Ireland will shortly hold to the presidency of the European Union... ...and that presidency must be used deliberately to untangle and undo this injustice. Not to manage it, not to kick it to touch, but to reverse it. At European level, Ireland must reopen discussions with a clear demand for fair burden sharing... ...and the restoration of protections for highly dependent member states such as Ireland. And that requires political will from the current Taoiseach. But ultimately this comes down to political choice. The CFP must be judged not just on stock levels but on fairness and solidarity. And at present it is failing on all that. Our fishing communities have observed decades of loss. They have been patient. They have played by the rules. And their anger and their despair and their disappointment is justified, Minister. The injury is real. The insult is undeniable. And what happens next will tell us whether this government is prepared to stand up for the country... ...or whether it is content to let another vital sector slide towards a fatal end. I'll read that happened from Margaret's, Deputy Pierce Doherty. Okay. chair of improvement. internist pension as an escaped pattern.