Inland and Marine Fisheries: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-04
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Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (FF), Labour Panel

The Minister of State often gets abuse, especially online, but many of the people engaging in that abuse would not know a fish if it hit them across the face. What is very interesting is that the fishing organisations never abuse him, which shows the respect they have for him. They acknowledge and believe that he is doing his best.
I will finish by acknowledging the stakeholder engagement. The issue of unsustainable fishing of key pelagic stocks such as mackerel by certain coastal states outside the EU has been raised by Ireland repeatedly. This Government has, through the AGRIFISH Council, called for urgent EU action to save the north-east Atlantic pelagic stocks and further called for the EU to send a clear message that actions that threaten the sustainability of our shared stocks are not acceptable to the EU. At the AGRIFISH Council on 26 January Ireland repeated its call for a resolution of the issues relating to mackerel in the north-east Atlantic. The Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Mr. Costas Kadis, assured Ireland and other concerned member states that the EU was using all technical, diplomatic and political measures to find a satisfactory solution. An Taoiseach, Deputy Martin, the Minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon, and the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, have met with the fishing industry regularly and have listened carefully to its views. I urge the Minister of State to keep up the good work. We are a small country with a big heart and we very much depend on our fishing industry.

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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