Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-18
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

It has been, but it is important we are honest with fishermen. I would like to know which fishing representative body does not feel that I showed up or that the Taoiseach showed up, considering I met them, and I was in touch directly with the European Commission. The Taoiseach met them, as did the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, a dedicated Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries, and the senior Minister, Deputy Heydon. Deputy Doherty is right that this is a devastating blow for fisheries but it is also a devastating blow we should try and work collaboratively on.
The Deputy represents a constituency that is very significantly impacted by this, as are other constituencies, but I do acknowledge the particular impact in Donegal. We must and we will examine all options available. We are establishing a Food Vision seafood group for a whole-of-government mechanism to assess what sustainable supports for the sector look like. The Department of Finance will engage constructively with the work as it progresses. We need to look at short-term resilience and long-term sustainability measures in coastal communities. There is also a broader issue involving looking at the European fisheries policy as well.
We were talking about qualified majority and minority voting. The Irish text on the Hague preferences did not even make the final compromise text because of a blocking minority led by France, supported by the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Belgium. We will work very closely on this. I am happy to work on a cross-party basis too.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:29+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-18