‘Fishing communities relegated yet again during Ireland's Presidency of EU Council’
“For decades, our Irish fishing and seafood industry has been badly failed by Irish governments in Europe” - Sinn Fein’s MacLochlainn
Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Fisheries and the Marine, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD has challenged the Taoiseach to urgently clarify why the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, will chair the EU Fisheries Council and lead out on fisheries issues during Ireland’s Presidency of the EU Council rather than the Minister for Fisheries, Timmy Dooley.
Teachta Mac Lochlainn said: “The Taoiseach Micheál Martin recently talked up a dedicated Minister for the Marine at the Cabinet.”
“We are surrounded by our seas and there’s something missing where we don’t have a stronger department of the marine, independent but working with other departments.”
“Yet only weeks later, it has been reported that a serious rift has occurred between Fine Gael’s Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon and Fianna Fáil’s Minister of State for Fisheries Timmy Dooley over the handling of the EU’s Fisheries Council meetings during Ireland’s EU presidency.”
He continued: “Incredibly, today, it’s the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon who is representing Ireland at the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries, taking an exchange of views with the committee members on Ireland’s Presidency of the EU Council, rather than our actual Minister for Fisheries, Timmy Dooley.”
“For decades, our Irish fishing and seafood industry has been badly failed by Irish governments in Europe. The Common Fisheries Policy has been a vehicle to plunder huge wealth from the Irish people in the seas around us.”
“More than ever, we need Ireland’s Presidency of the EU Council to challenge this, but we have the wrong Minister at the negotiating table. The Taoiseach had fine words on the importance to Ireland of the Minister for the Marine but at the first test, he has failed to match those words with decisive action.”