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

I move amendment No. 11:

In page 17, line 17, after “fee” to insert “(not exceeding €25)”.

In the event of this very unjust Bill being passed by the Dáil, every fisherman and fisherwoman will have the right to appeal his or her conviction, especially if he or she is in the right. I asked the Minister about the recent near ramming incident off Castetownbere a while ago, but I did not get any reply as to whether the Spanish trawler was arrested and brought to justice, as it should be. However, in a situation where a fisherman ends up with penalty points and he believes it is not justified and that he is not guilty, the system we are putting in place is putting everything up against him regardless of what it is. What will be the fee for the fisherman to appeal the conviction?

I strongly believe that the fee for an appeal should be no more than €25. If it is at the discretion of the Minister, it could run into thousands of euro, which would put it out of the reach of already struggling fishermen who are hard-pressed at present without another burden put on their backs. One can well imagine that if people feel they have been wronged, they will do everything in their power to clear their name, even though it appears to me that with the way the system is drafted one is damned if one does or if one does not. One will still end up with penalty points one way or the other, clear or unclear. However, surely the Minister will not penalise them further by handing an unfair fee to those who want to appeal any decisions. I am proposing a fee of €25.

The Government Deputies here today should refer back to their constituencies or refer to their colleagues in rural constituencies where there are fishermen or where quite a lot of the farmers are also fishermen. They will not be at all happy with their actions today. I appeal to them to take on board some of our amendments, at least. We are here because the fishermen have asked us to be here to fight their cause for them. As far as I am concerned, the fee should be €25.