Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I thank Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Kelly for their presentations. I am incredibly frustrated listening to what they have said. In 2017, the predecessor to this committee, of which the Chairman and I were members, compiled a really strong report on exploitation in the fishing industry, which included 12 excellent recommendations. The findings of the report were not contested by any member of the committee, all of whom felt very strongly about the wrongdoing in the sector. I pay tribute to Mr. Ken Fleming in particular, who gave powerful testimony to the committee detailing shocking stories of abuse. I am at a loss today because from what I can see, that report was put on the shelf and has been ignored by the Government. That needs to be put on the record. Four years on from outlining the most horrendous issues of exploitation in the industry, those 12 recommendations have been ignored. That is appalling.

I have a few questions for Mr. Kelly in reference to the report. Recommendation No. 6 was that extra funding be made available to the WRC to allow it to continue with a rigorous inspection regime of the relevant Irish fishing fleet. Mr. Kelly indicated that the number of inspectors fell from 16 to seven and he is hoping to bring it back up to 11. Why was the recommendation on inspector numbers, made four years ago by the predecessor to this committee, not implemented? Why has the WRC not kept at least a minimum of 16 inspectors in place over recent years?