Inland and Marine Fisheries: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-04 ============================================================ Mark Duffy (FG), Labour Panel I thank the Minister of State for being here for this worthwhile debate. He has inherited a lot of challenges during a difficult time for the inland, onshore and offshore sectors. He faces no shortage of challenges. As previous speakers stated, we all acknowledge his engagement to date with all fishery and advocacy groups for the sector as a whole because so many challenges need to be dealt with. On a continental level we need more support from friends and colleagues across Europe because the whole idea of the European ideal is collegiality, working together, fairness, justice and equality. That is not being felt by fishermen and fisherwomen in Ireland. We feel like we are being taken advantage of. We feel like it is a raw deal. Last week, along with Senators Boyle and O'Donovan, I hosted a future of fishing discussion in the audiovisual room. We had approximately 30 Members of the Oireachtas from across all parties supporting the offshore and inshore fisheries sectors in this stark time. The message is clear that there are huge vulnerabilities in that sector. It is a seminal moment for the sector and in the coming years difficult decisions will have to be made. However, they will be cushioned by proper financial support for the sector to get through the coming years to make sure we have an industry and sector for the next generation if we can manage our way through. The Minister of State has full support from this Chamber and the other House on that. He will have our full support on whatever he needs to fight to make sure there are sufficient financial supports available for what he wants to achieve. I turn to inland fisheries and the threats to different waterways like the River Moy in my county of Mayo. Again, it is something the Minister of State is aware of, and I would really appreciate if he would meet with the Moy Action Group, which formed in a constructive way following the public meeting held in Ballina, where the proposal that has gone through public consultation is to reduce the catching number of salmon to 1,044. There are some constructive proposals like an EU LIFE project along the River Moy that can engage landowners and all stakeholders to make sure everything possible is done from an environmental point of view to make sure the practice of salmon fishing is sustainable and can be protected for future generations. People understand there are environmental challenges but there also need to be constructive ways of working with stakeholders like the Moy Action Group, the River Moy anglers association and the trusts along the River Moy. They all play a vital part, from a fishing heritage point of view and from the ecological, biodiversity and tourism impacts they have. I also acknowledge the Erris inshore fisheries, with whom I have been engaging. As part of that task force being formed, it is important voices like theirs are heard, that is, both the inshore and the offshore sectors. Last week was a good example of the sector working together. I know they are sometimes pitted against each other and that is not a good place to be. We need to be constructive and acknowledge that the whole sector is under pressure. The best way to support it is by working together and making sure there is a package that supports and represents both the inshore and offshore sectors. There should also be separate supports for inshore fisheries like the River Moy and other rivers under pressure and threat and for the local economies, through the chambers of commerce, that are reliant on seasonal fishing tourists coming into the area, generally from France and Germany. We should have supports in place for those industries in order that we can mitigate the short-term threat and have a sustainable long-term future for the sectors. I appreciate the Minister of State's engagement on it and look forward to hearing his reply. --- 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