Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I missed the presentations as I was somewhere else. What familiarity do the witnesses have with workers who are brought in from abroad to work in the industry? Allegations have been made against the industry, which the witnesses refute and about which they are pretty annoyed, saying that the evidence does not bear it out. They are in a very competitive industry and there are huge pressures, globally and locally, not to mention the question of fishing resources with the sea losing resources on a yearly basis. The sea has been overfished and fishermen are not catching as much as they would have done previously. As native Irishmen and Irishwomen, they will have noticed that other industries have exploited foreign workers, such as the building industry, the au pair industry and many others. People will remember the Gama workers from Turkey some years ago and there have been investigations into migrant workers in the domestic and hospitality industries. It is not unusual in industries that are coming under pressure and are competitive. I would not find it at all unusual if there was evidence of exploitation within this industry but I would not find it acceptable. What is the opinion of witnesses on the abuse and misuse of labour from other countries? Do they regard it as something that happens because they cannot control everything or do they abhor it and think it should never happen, and should be totally outlawed and policed properly? I was familiar with an element of the fishing industry on a small scale and I witnessed widespread use of migrant labour, not always on equal terms to those from our native land. What are the witnesses' opinions on that? I am not accusing them of anything.