Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Whitmore for her patience. I am very proud of this committee. The fact that is that this lastchance.com for Mr. Gaffney. Any fellow outside the door would know what has gone on here. I have read the stuff about the case but listening to Mr. Gaffney and hearing it from him, I recognise the beauty and genuineness of him and his family and everything else. We must consider the safety of crew and people. There are three or four more boats out there and a maritime disaster could occur at any time. Mr. Gaffney is being a major benefit to the European Union. Regardless of whether we are talking about Holland, Germany or Ireland, we are talking about a part of Europe. Mr. Gaffney is flagging a potential disaster. His was the test case and the ship failed the equivalent of the national car test, NCT. It is simple, but nobody is taking responsibility for that failure. Nobody wants to put up their hand and say they can help and hold those who have failed Mr. Gaffney accountable. It is utter and pure disrespect to him, his family, his profession, the shipping industry and the fishing industry. We will discuss the matter further but we are considering bringing representatives of the marine safety office before the committee. Mr. Gaffney has to get to the end of this. A massive injustice has been going on for years and for which someone else is accountable. I am not going to say too much more because I am getting angrier and angrier listening to Mr. Gaffney and Deputy Whitmore has been patient enough to wait.