Mr. Ciarán Healy:

Deputy Ó Cuív mentions €10,000. Being a constituent of the Minister, I met him and when he admitted some cases were extreme, I suggested that they should be dealt with in an exceptional manner. This should not be lumped in with the rest. I suggested that he fully fund 150 of the smallest pots - a 22 inch crab or a lobster pot. Along with ropes, this would come to approximately €9,000. If he delivered them to me on Monday, I would be making money from landing a catch on those pots by the weekend. I could top that up with nets I could rig myself and I could forget about shrimp pots. With these nets, pots and pollock boards, there are cheaper ways to fish using less expensive gear. This is some of the funding for shrimp pots in a season and a fellow could pick himself up.