Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-28
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

It is going to be a very difficult year, a difficult number of years, actually. I have met with the fishing representative bodies along with the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, who have responsibility for the marine. Largely because of the research that came in terms of the stocks, which everybody generally accepts - that has always been a consistent position - there has been a 70% reduction in pelagic, which is shocking. It really will be devastating. As the Deputy said, our challenge is to establish the task force. I also hear the call of the inshore fishermen in terms of representation on that. I will talk to the Ministers in respect of that. More importantly, there will have to be a state aid programme or support programme from the Government to support fishers through this very difficult period.
It is not just the pelagic; there are significant reductions in other species as well, which makes for a very difficult scenario. Also, the European Union then has to get more robust in its engagement with Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland in terms of the overfishing of fishing stocks more generally.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-28