Mr. Hugo Boyle:

I am CEO of the Irish South and East Fish Producers Organisation. As my colleagues have gone into the details of how the fishing industry works, I will keep my address brief.

The Irish South and East Fish Producers Organisation, ISEFPO, thanks members for giving us the opportunity to present and clarify some misconceptions about the treatment of migrant workers in the fishing industry. Our organisation does not condone the mistreatment of any person, worker or otherwise, and encourages anyone who is aware of such ill-treatment to bring it to the attention of the appropriate authorities. With other industry organisations, we have been proactive in looking for a scheme to regularise the status of non-EEA workers in the industry. This was achieved in 2016 with the introduction of the atypical workers scheme which was a welcome development, but like all new schemes, it needed some time to bed in and overcome the learning curve. To this end, we were ably assisted by the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, in guiding the organisation and individual skippers-owners on the necessary measures to comply with the new legislation.

I refute completely any suggestion, as recorded here in July, that the WRC was not doing its job and fulfilling its role. We take issue with the fact that people who had vilified the industry with misleading and unsubstantiated accusations at every opportunity in various media were invited to come before this committee and make false allegations against the industry, the WRC and An Garda Síochána. Portraying these bodies as condoning modern day slavery - the words used in the presentation - was outrageous and I am surprised that it was tolerated in this chamber. Wildly inaccurate figures for migrant workers from the same presenters have been bandied about. In fact, on an RTE news programme in 2015 it was claimed that there were 8,000 such workers in the industry, when a figure of a few hundred would have been more accurate, but, of course, sensational stories make the news. If the ITF or migrant rights people have evidence to substantiate their claims, they should pass on the evidence to the proper authorities, as otherwise they are aiding and abetting criminal activity and should be answerable to the Garda.

For us, there has been a serious misrepresentation of the facts of the engagement of non-EEA workers in the industry. We ask the committee to take account of factual information and not wildly outrageous claims made by parties who may have a vested interest in distorting these same facts.

I will answer any question or elaborate on the points I have made.