Ms Norah Parke:

I thank the Chairman and committee members for giving me the opportunity to make what will be a very short presentation.

The Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation does not have a problem at this time as its members do not employ any non-EEA personnel. Therefore, we can take a dispassionate view of the situation, particularly the ongoing process at the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. However, the organisation has been closely involved during the years on a wide range of issues concerning the welfare of fishermen. We have engaged freely and proactively with the agencies concerned and made every effort to disseminate relevant information, clarify some of the more obscure ramifications and consequences of regulations and, in fact, lobby for the improved protection of fishermen - Irish, European Union and non-EEA alike. In addition, the CEO, Mr. Seán O’Donoghue, was a member of the interdepartmental task force set up by the then Minister with responsibility for the marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, in November 2015 to regularise the employment of non-EEA fishermen.

The Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation has been a supportive member of the Santa Marta group – the North Atlantic Maritime Project - since its launch in Ireland in May 2016. I suggest the reports and views expressed at the most recent Santa Marta group meeting in Dublin on 20 June 2017 which appear to overlap considerably with this joint committee group should be given some consideration. My own experiences in dealing with Irish fishermen who were attempting to legally employ non-EEA workers might shed some light on the reasons there are occasions when it is simply impossible to be compliant, leading to both employers and workers falling through the cracks.

I can say categorically that there is no vessel owner, skipper or other member of the KFO organisation who has any desire to exploit his or her workers, let alone treat them as slave labour, and I am sure I also speak for my industry colleagues in that regard. However, we need to live in the real world and acknowledge that sometimes things go wrong. If a law does not work or is a bad law, we need to change it, but a successful change requires dealing with the facts, not emotional, exaggerated and sometimes slanderous allegations. Let us take the opportunity to identify the drivers of non-compliance, not alone regarding non-EEA nationals but also employed fishermen from our communities and within the European Union. This is not a situation which will be rectified by greater enforcement of short-term solutions but by appropriate regulation.

I will be happy to answer questions.