Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 12, line 17, to delete “on the balance of probabilities” and substitute “beyond a reasonable doubt”.

The issue comes down to whether the innocence of a fisherman is taken into account. When we were talking about the proposed change from 30 to 60 days the Minister said we do not want to delay the application of points. That is the problem. There seems to be a real drive to make sure that the Irish fisherman will get penalty points on his licence if any slight infringement is found at the waters. That needs to be looked at more deeply because it seems to me that if the fisherman is proven innocent in Irish waters, he may still carry those penalty points. Maybe the Minister could give me clarity on the point that if a fisherman gets penalty points once and then does not have any for a number of years but has an infringement again in a couple of years, the resulting penalty points are still added onto the previous points he had. This seems to be a lose-lose situation for the Irish fisherman from start to finish.

As I said earlier, it has been an extremely difficult time for fishing and we need to fight out there in Europe for a better and a fairer system for the Irish fisherman. That has not been done to date. Look at even the bluefin tuna quota. I would say every other country in Europe can get as much quota as it wants or can make an application for quota and get it but the Irish fisherman cannot get any quota for bluefin tuna. There are lots of others and there is a great unfairness and a great imbalance out there. I think this will be an extra imbalance on the fisherman's back and I will certainly press the amendment.