John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I apologise that I had to leave briefly. However, I heard Deputies Mac Lochlainn and Whitmore ask about the social welfare issue before that and I heard the response. I found it interesting to learn when I recently asked the Minister about the number of self-employed fishermen who are on the fish assist payment that the number is particularly low. Is there a reason for that? Across the country, only 43 fishermen are on the fish assist payment, nine of whom are in County Galway. That seems remarkably low. I would have expected there to be more. I am aware that in recent times there have been a number of investigations into people in receipt of the payment by the social welfare services. Is that one of the contributing factors for why so few seek to take up the payment?

A common theme of the guidance note we received relates to the ring-fenced quotas that are rarely if ever fully taken up. It is described in the guidance note as a consistent pattern. Do the witnesses know why those quotas are not being taken up?