Inshore Fisheries
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-09
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Conor D. McGuinness (SF), Waterford

I also note the publication of the Mulvey report this week. It is underwhelming and there is not an expectation in the sector that the Berkery report will move this on much further, but that remains to be seen. My call to the Minister of State is that he and this Government accept that the inshore sector is facing an emergency and, based on that, they should now go and make the case to Brussels. Work can be done on other issues, such as quota, access and a fair proportion of fishing opportunity. This is about keeping the industry afloat. The industry is on its knees and has been facing a slow deterioration as a result of policy and inequity driven by Brussels over many years. It is now at a point from which it may never return. We may lose our inshore sector unless it gets direct financial assistance. It is important to note that the sector never came looking for anything from the State aside from fair access to our waters. Now, when it does come looking it is told to wait for a second report, after which the Government might make a case to Europe. As I said, if this were any other primary producing sector, the Minister of State would be in Brussels now making the case for derogation. That needs to happen.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-09