Mr. Ciarán Healy:

I live in and fish in Crosshaven, County Cork. I shall outline my personal losses. Due to the bad weather I lost all of my 300 crab pots and 243 of my 270 shrimp pots, including ropes and buoys. I did find a few bits of broken equipment on the shore afterwards. If I were to replace the equipment it would cost me €33,000 at last year's prices. I need not say it but I do not have access to anywhere near that amount of money.

I subscribed to the scheme put forward by the Minister even though I know, in my heart and soul, that it will not help me very much. He is offering 40% of the cost of 50 pots after I spend the remaining 60% but I do not have the money. To add to my misfortune, in the last throes of the hurricane force winds my boat broke free from the pier in Crosshaven and collided with two other boats. To cut a long story short, the cost of the damage was mostly paid by my insurance company but the outlook for the next premium is almost €15,000, with the first €2,200 excess provided by me.

I am 36 years fishing this year and for the past six years I have fished single-handed. Almost every penny of my earnings from fishing is spent locally and the bulk of it, outside of gear, is spent within four miles of the pier in Crosshaven. Every year my local Centra shop gets slightly over €2,000 and my local co-op gets paid €1,000 or thereabouts for lubricant oil and hydraulic oil. I also buy diesel from a local supplier who was born and reared in Crosshaven. I know that oil does not come from under the ground in Crosshaven but I use a local supplier whom I pay €12,000, give or take, each year. I also buy my gear supplies from two Irish suppliers. They must import some of the equipment from abroad but they employ people in this country. Finally, I rig all of my own nets, partly because I have no more pots to play with. I could not afford to travel here today but the producers' organisation is paying for it. I have cancelled my pension and, to be honest, I do not know where else I can go. This is my last throw of the dice. I hope that I have given a personal picture on what my colleagues here have explained. Are there any more questions?