Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are two Senators here. There is a vote on and we are being told, a bit like the witnesses, that the Whip is on us. I am not sure whether we have to go.

I will come back to an issue that should be emphasised more. It is very interesting to hear that for the one man who is out fishing, and people should understand we are talking about a boat of approximately 6 m or 7 m, up to maximum of 15 m or 17 m, he is creating seven jobs on shore. I have nothing against the bigger boats but in the area where I live, whether it is in Castletownbere or Union Hall, the vast majority of the crews on those boats are not even Irish. They probably cannot even get local fellas. You will not get a young fella from Schull, Belmullet or Donegal to go out for a seven-day trip. It is not conducive to them. There is a reality to what is being achieved as regards the seven jobs on shore. If fishing is taken out of the Mizen Peninsula where I live, similar to Belmullet or west Kerry, that area would be very depleted. You would not see too many in the local shop.

I would like the witnesses to clarify, when they are not fishing and are tied up for whatever reason, whether it is weather, markets collapsing or a lack of quotas, what do they get? Is there any funding for when they are tied up for two months whereby they are allowed access to some social welfare contribution? Maybe one or other of the representatives could explain that to the committee. Sometimes, we are ignorant of these situations. We think we know everything but they are the people on the ground.