Fishing Industry
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-29
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Timmy Dooley (FF), Clare

As the Deputy knows, the Hague preferences are negotiated annually. Over the years, many member states have objected strenuously to their application because the additional quota for Ireland comes from their allocations. These objections have intensified in recent times, arising from reductions in quota due to quota transfers under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and scientific advice based on a considerable reduction in fishing stocks. Some of that reduction has been as a result of overfishing by other countries and some, potentially, as a result of climate change.
Regrettably, during the December Fisheries Council, a group of member states chose to block the invocation of Ireland’s Hague preferences for 202. The Danish Presidency did not include the Hague preferences in the final Presidency compromise on the fishing opportunities regulation. This will unfortunately result in severely reduced fishing opportunities for Irish fishermen and fisherwomen in 2026. While Ireland voted against the regulation because it did not include the Hague preferences, the regulation was adopted with a qualified majority.
Ireland has already expressed to the Council, the Commission and other member states its intentions to invoke the Hague preferences at the appropriate time in respect of fishing opportunities for 2027. The Department is currently examining the position to determine potential next steps, including in the context of what legal redress is available to us. The Deputy will be aware that the European Court of Justice, ECJ, addressed this issue in a past finding, which indicated that the acceptance of the Hague preferences was a matter for the Council. That creates potential challenges.
I have stated publicly that we will look at all potential opportunities to try to address this matter. With the support of the Minister, Deputy Heydon, we are establishing a working group under the auspices of Food Vision 2030 in order to develop a framework of supports to address the substantial challenges currently facing the sector as a result of the significant reduction in quota to which the Deputy referred.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-29