Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

My colleagues have hit the nail on the head. The problem is that factories own the boats and that has created this situation. It is the same in Killybegs as well. For many years, factories owned boats that landed the fish in Norway and Scotland. The factories still made money although the workers got no work, and that was part of the problem.

If there was a system where 24,000 tonnes was put on the market every year and it went on price, could the witnesses compete to be able to buy enough fish to keep them going? Also, would a guaranteed supply of 2,000 tonnes to each of their factories be enough to keep them viable into the future? There may be a mechanism where a certain amount of fish would have to go on the market but the problem then is that the bigger players will be able to price the witnesses out of the market. I do not know how that would ever be dealt with.