Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is it agreed that we invite the different organisations to appear before the committee? Agreed.

The next petition is No. P00012/23 entitled, "Justice and Safety", from Mr. C.J. Gaffney, which states:

We are calling on the Government to compensate us out of the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) which was offered at our meeting in Brussels and confirmed by the documents and radio interview contained in the links below by Irish MEPs and senior EU officials, considering the unique and unprecedented circumstances of the case. We must have rights in this day and age. We are also asking for an official and impartial investigation in all aspects of the case on how such a dangerous vessel was certified as passing all stability criteria and continuously issued with valid sailing certification. This vessel was also accepted onto the Irish Register and issued with an Irish Fishing License, and as such, what was the role of the Irish Marine Survey Office in the handling this case. We can provide numerous independent surveys, reports and professional opinions to make this a very quick and easy report to compile, which on the grounds of Health and Safety, will have a major impact on saving Fishermen’s lives across the whole EU. To highlight how this could've happened and to stop it from happening again just as the Dutch have done. We even have evidence (‘’since 2010’’) of a German sister vessel to the Mary Kate, with it also having been found to be totally unseaworthy and having an inaccurate Stability Book, just like the Mary Kate. It’s a miracle these vessels didn’t capsize with a certain loss of all crew.

There is a lot of information and very interesting data included.