Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

So do people on this side of the House.

1. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will engage with an organisation (details supplied) to progress its proposal for an inshore fisheries income stabilisation and climate compensation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6545/26]

The Minister will know that the National Inshore Fishermen's Association has made a submission to all of us on an inshore fisheries income stabilisation and climate compensation scheme. Essentially, this would be a basic income scheme similar to that which was provided to artists in recent times. This is critical. As the Minister knows, in the past fishermen would have said, "We just want the fish…

As the Minister of State knows, the impact of Brexit hurt all fishermen, not just offshore fishermen. There was no tie-up scheme and no fuel subsidy for inshore fishermen. They have really struggled, and I have seen a big change. As I said at the outset, when I talked about a support scheme similar to what farmers have received for many years, the initial response from fishermen all around the coa…

I welcome that. It is crucial that the likes of NIFA, NIFF, the regional inshore fisheries forums, RIFFs, and the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation, IIMRO, are at the table too. There are about 900 inshore fishermen, according to NIFA. Imagine if we could protect their livelihoods with a basic income scheme, which would mean that they would not have to go on the dole. It is economically s…

Was the Taoiseach at the committee?

Was the Taoiseach at the committee himself?

The deep frustration in my county in terms of key infrastructure projects concerns just how long they take. I want to talk about the Letterkenny relief road. Letterkenny is the beating heart of Donegal in terms of inward investment. It has multinational companies. Our university is there, along with our public services and our hospital. A huge volume of traffic goes through the town all the time. …

The chairperson of Bord Bia has to resign. Every single farming organisation in this State has said it has no confidence in him and he has to go. How on earth can we have a chairperson at Bord Bia promoting Irish food abroad when the primary producers have no confidence in him and want him to go? This is a crazy situation. The Minister, Deputy Heydon, needs to sack him, simple as that, as called f…

Not agreed.

I asked some of my councillor colleagues in Donegal to give me feedback about their involvement with Uisce Éireann and their perspectives. I have been speaking to quite a lot of people in Donegal since statements on the issues with Uisce Éireann last week. This issue of communication is universal. As I said to the Minister last week, and he must agree with this, it is absolutely unacceptable that …

Thousands of carers have received letters from Revenue saying they owe tax. They are not tax dodgers; they are people who save this State a fortune of money, literally billions of euro each year. We need the Minister, Deputy Calleary, to come into the Dáil this week. We need statements. We need to deal with this issue. We need the Government to present how it is going to resolve this issue. To be …

You would not get that in Fianna Fáil.

Ah Jesus, what has that got to do with Athenry?

I do not think the model that we currently see with Uisce Éireann, previously Irish Water, is an accident. I think it is by design, given the way that public representatives are treated by that organisation, created by this Government. When I send the Government a parliamentary question, it is ruled out of order because it is a matter for Uisce Éireann. The way it treats public representatives is …

I will continue with the theme of the hypocrisy and double standards of some European leaders and our own Government. I will touch on the issue of fisheries and what happened at the December Agriculture and Fisheries Council and Mercosur, in particular, the utter failure of Micheál Martin to stand up for Ireland's interests, speak truth to power and confront the hypocrisy at the heart of the Europ…

Where is climate change, climate justice, the green economy and all the other areas where we play by the rules? There are double standards when it comes to doing trade and commerce. I endorse everything Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett said. It is utter hypocrisy. The world rules of engagement, be they on human rights, basic decency or trade and commerce, mean nothing because the leadership of the Eu…

We obviously had the chance at the committee yesterday to go through what a disaster this outcome is and how it cannot stand. The Common Fisheries Policy has been deeply unfair to Ireland's fishing and coastal communities throughout the years. What happened with Brexit has rightly been described as a betrayal of those communities. It was a power grab and I will deal with some of the companies at …

Hear, hear.

What caused that to happen?

What have you done, as Taoiseach of our country, since last Friday?

You have not done a thing.

There has been not a word from you.

I support the request by Deputy Collins, which has been made at the Business Committee as well for a number of weeks. It is extraordinary that there is no time to debate Mercosur. It is a massive issue and decision time is coming up. We do not know the Government's position. Perhaps the Taoiseach could clarify that, or at least pass a message to the Chief Whip to do so.

The Taoiseach did not answer the earlier questions about the Fisheries Council outcome. It is a disastrous outcome. The Taoiseach must know about the big five, the massive Dutch corporations that have bought up fish quotas across the European Union. They have 240 vessels. Approximately one in six of the fish caught under all the countries of Europe are under these corporations. They clearly have m…