Inland and Marine Fisheries: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-04
============================================================

Timmy Dooley (FF), Clare

I welcome the opportunity to be in the Seanad again to discuss fisheries and marine matters. I welcome the timely opportunity to discuss this important issue and the concerns affecting the fisheries and seafood sector. I know many of the Senators here have a very keen interest in and intimate knowledge of the industry and those who operate in it.
I reassure the House that as Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries and the marine, I recognise the importance of maintaining a vibrant fishing sector both for the communities that rely on them and indeed the wider economy. I also recognise that these same coastal communities are feeling dismay and despair at the reduced levels of quota available to them for 2026 following the EU operating on the basis of headline ICES, International Council for the Exploration of the Seas, advice and particularly the resultant quotas for pelagic stock. This was in addition to Ireland's invocation of the Hague preferences, which are a key element of our relative stability, being blocked by a group of larger member states.
The conclusions reached in Brussels in December are a culmination of bilateral and trilateral negotiations by the EU with third countries, where were then followed by the internal EU matters of the Baltic, western Mediterranean and the EU main total allowable catch and quota regulation, which covers stocks in the Atlantic, North Sea and adjacent waters and includes the fish stocks of relevance to Ireland. Most of the stocks covered by this regulation are shared with third countries, predominantly the UK and Norway. There are only two stocks of which Ireland has quota which are an autonomous Union stocks, sole and plaice, in ICES areas 7bc off Ireland's west coast. The total allowable catch for these stocks had been set at 15 tonnes annually for 2024, 2025 and 2026 in line with the scientific advice I mentioned earlier, and therefore were not under consideration in this proposal.
It is clear that the outcomes of this year's December AGRIFISH Council will result in severely reduced fishing opportunities for 2026. The scientific advice upon which the Council's decisions were based reflects the impact of overfishing, particularly of the mackerel stock by certain third countries. The advised 70% reduction in the total allowable catch for mackerel is compounded by a 41% reduction in blue whiting and a 22% reduction in boarfish along with further reductions in nephrops. Therefore, Ireland's fishing opportunities for 2026 amount to approximately 120,000 tonnes with an estimated first sale value of €205 million across the main pelagic, demersal and nephrops stock for 2026.
As a result, while the overall scale of fishing opportunity remains substantial, the distribution of quota across key stocks presents ongoing challenges for fleet planning, processing throughput and coastal communities that are highly dependent on the specific fisheries. It is important that we do not focus our ire on the scientific advice here. The advice is merely reflecting years of overfishing by other countries.
We - the EU and specifically Ireland - are suffering the consequences.
The question arises as to what we are going to do about it. There has been an effort by some extreme elements within this Parliament and outside to suggest that Ireland is the only country that is taking a hit in quota. The quota reduction based on scientific advice has been across the European Union and impacts each country specifically based on the quota which its possesses or has grandfathered rights to. It is particularly challenging for Ireland because the advice in relation to mackerel is particularly worrying. Therefore, the proposed cuts are significant. We, as a country, are impacted more than anyone because of the European quota. We have about 50% of it from an Irish perspective.
Ireland has consistently called for action against those countries that overfish mackerel. Given that Ireland holds the largest share of the EU quota of mackerel in the western waters area, the devastating impact of the decline in the stock will be acutely felt by both the catching and processing sector. On behalf of the Government, I have called for the EU to send a clear message that actions that threaten the sustainability of our shared stocks are not acceptable. At a number of recent AGRIFISH Council meetings, the importance of a concerted EU response was discussed by ministers, including the option of triggering the unsustainable fishing regulation. This is something that I have sought for some time and will continue to pursue.
Even after the December AGRIFISH Council meeting where the 2026 total allowable catch, TAC, and quota were set for 2026, we have seen questionable actions taken by other third countries in how we manage the mackerel stock for the north-east Atlantic. In late December, Norway, the UK, the Faroe Islands and Iceland agreed on management arrangements for mackerel for 2026 without the EU. The scientific headline advice for 2026 is a total allowable catch of 174,370 tonnes. This is based on a 50% probability that the stock will recover to biolimit mass, Blim, in 2027. Spawning stock biomass is the weight of the sexually mature fish in a population. Blim means the level of spawning stock biomass below which recruitment, that is, reproduction, is impaired or the stock dynamics are unknown. There is a strong basis for that which has been proposed.
Despite this however, the four parties of Norway, the UK, the Faroe Islands and Iceland have agreed that the 2026 TAC should be 299,010 tonnes. This is based on the alternative catch scenario given by ICES based on the application of the maximum sustainable yield, MSY, rule, ignoring that the stock is below that Blim. This higher catch is associated with a higher risk that the stock will not recover to Blim in 2027. The four-party agreement indicates that their combined share is 79.45%, which is equivalent to 238,000 tonnes and 37% above the headline advice of 174,000 tonnes. The EU also has to make a decision whether it remains faithful to the ICES advice of 174,000 tonnes or takes its share of the higher value of 299,000 tonnes. This was a question I posed to the EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, last week in Brussels. He assured me that all technical, diplomatic and political measures were being taken by him and his services to seek a solution to this issue.
However, there are many issues to be carefully considered here. A higher TAC means more fish for our fleet but the one issue we need to be mindful of is that overfishing by some third countries has led to the collapse of the stock and a careful balance needs to be struck. This is Ireland's most important stock and we need it to be sustained into the long term. Nevertheless, the impact of the scientific advice and resulting reductions in available quota, combined with Ireland not receiving its Hague preference quotas, will have significant operational and economic feasibility impacts on the seafood sector. The 2026 quota outcomes reflect the continued balancing act between maintaining viable fishing opportunities and protecting fish stocks in line with scientific advice under the Common Fisheries Policy. For Ireland, this reinforces the importance of maximising value from available quota and maintaining high standards of quality and market positioning.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will continue to provide a range of supports and services to the Irish fleet under Ireland's €258 million seafood development programme, which is co-funded by the Irish Government and the European Commission under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, EMFAM, running from 2021 to 2027.
In addition to the seafood development programme, I recognise that our fishing and seafood sector must be additionally supported through this very difficult time. I am clear that, despite the resilience shown by the sector, a whole-of-government approach is required to support it through this particular challenge. Together with the Minister, Deputy Heydon, I have committed to engaging with colleagues across the Government to assess what framework of supports may be available to the seafood sector, to explore options within the constraints of both EU and national Exchequer funding and the relevant EU and national legislation, and in particular taking account of the constraints imposed by EU state aid rules for the fisheries sector.
Next week I will be formally establishing a seafood sector group under the auspices of the Food Vision 2030 strategy to advance this commitment. A key priority of the food vision seafood group will be to ensure that a platform of economic, environmental and social sustainability supports are available to the fisheries and seafood processing sectors and their coastal communities. The new group will be chaired by Mr. Michael Berkery, an independent chair, and will include representatives from the fishing organisations, aquaculture and seafood processing organisations, my Department and its agencies and other relevant Government Departments and agencies. I will be writing to all the relevant stakeholders to share the terms of reference for the food vision seafood group and will request nominations for membership. It is intended to hold the first meeting of the group in the week commencing 16 February 2026. The Programme for Government: Securing Ireland's Future commits to securing a sustainable future for the fisheries sector, while supporting coastal communities that rely on this activity for their livelihood and I will work across Government to deliver on this commitment.
Before I conclude, I would like to discuss Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Blackwater fish kill, if the Cathaoirleach could give me a couple of minutes to do so. I think it is important because it is part of the overall fisheries brief. As Senators know, the Comptroller and Auditor General published its special report on governance, internal controls and value for money issues in IFI last October. The report provides an independent assessment of weaknesses identified over the period from 2019 to 2023. It also outlines the corrective actions that have been taken by IFI and the Department to address these issues, which include independent reviews, governance reforms and the appointment of a new board. The issues highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General are serious and not acceptable. IFI appeared before the Committee of Public Accounts in early December in respect of the Comptroller and Auditor General's special report and its 2023 financial statements. During the meeting, several items raised were not fully addressed and it is understandable that members of the Committee of Public Accounts continue to have questions. The committee has written to both our Department and IFI seeking additional information and a significant volume of records was provided to the committee, which is reviewing those at present.
The programme for Government includes a commitment to carry out an independent review of IFI. Last year I wrote to the IFI board setting out the Department's intention to carry out this review once a new CEO is appointed and embedded in the agency. An open recruitment process has been completed by the Public Appointments Service on behalf of IFI seeking a new chief executive. The new CEO will be appointed shortly, subject to necessary clearance and approval processes. Having a new CEO in place will also allow the CEO to contribute constructively to the process and ensure IFI's executive team has direct ownership of any recommendations arising from the independent review.
The Blackwater fish kill was an event of significant importance to the inland fisheries sector but also to tourism and the general issue of biodiversity in an important river. A summary report of the investigation into the fish kill incident on the River Blackwater was published last September. The report provided an extensive account of the interagency investigation and set out the most likely sequence of events. Last October, I wrote to the chair of IFI, asking it to lead an independent incident review of the Blackwater incident on behalf of the interagency group established to oversee the investigation into the event. IFI subsequently secured the services of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission to undertake this review. In December I announced this independent review of the incident that is aimed at strengthening how the State prevents, responds to and investigates such incidents, including the development of a formal interagency protocol for responding to fish kill incidents nationwide. A single, agreed protocol for all agencies involved will ensure that the relevant expertise, resources, and information are brought together quickly and will ensure consistency in how incidents are handled and communicated. Legislative amendments are being progressed to strengthen and modernise the existing IFI enforcement framework.
The heads of Bill are being drafted and I intend to bring the legislative proposals to Government as soon as possible. The work of the Joint Research Centre, JRC, is expected to be completed in the coming weeks. I will consider the actions taken during the Blackwater incident and assess their effectiveness and make recommendations on how future prevention response can be improved. I look forward to the publication of that report as quickly as possible. I thank Members for their forbearance.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-04/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:35+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-04