Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I again welcome the witnesses to the committee. I too would like to bring up the issue of the very large capacity vessels, or super trawlers as they are known. I understand that rather than simply discarding dead fish, these super trawlers mince the fish before pumping them back out. This means they will not be seen. Does the SFPA have the powers and ability to board these vessels easily and frequently to check that such practices are not taking place? Speaking to fishermen and fishing organisations around the coast, they are strongly of the view that if Europe or the global community in general are serious about conservation, they have to be serious about taking on the large vessels. They are the problem. Small fishermen around the country, most of whom are sailing very risky vessels and finding it very hard to make a living, often end going out fishing on their own because they cannot afford to bring a second person with them. That is very dangerous. The livelihood of these fishermen is under extreme strain, and yet they can see these huge vessels hoovering up all the fish and disappearing off over the horizon with them. If the authority does not have the power or ability to board these vessels, can it put an officer on board to monitor them full-time?

I support Deputy McConalogue's question about penalty points. There were suggestions that something might be done to change the current system in order that penalty points would not stand if the person was exonerated. Has there been any movement on that?