Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

No, I am talking about Jack Lynch's time. I am going back to the time when the negotiations took place that meant the allocation for Irish fishermen was 2.9% of European waters by value. I am also looking at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resource's own fishery vessels safety review group report, which indicated that on average boats are more than 30 years old. Some 64% of them were found to have serious deficiencies. All too often people are putting to sea in vessels which in the cold light of day they would probably not choose to go to sea in if they could have it any other way.

That is part of the reason this legislation is so important. The pressure on fishermen to go to sea is, in the words of one fisherman in my own locality, highly dangerous. I am quoting from one fisherman in the north County Dublin area who tells me that fishermen are going out to sea in unstable boats which are overloaded with technology. They are supposed to get a report from a naval architect but they do not. The boat becomes top heavy and in those circumstances it is small wonder that we have boats capsizing.

The Bill, as it relates to new harbours, is being welcomed by fishermen because at least we will know who is working on the boats and who is based in the harbours. Fishing is now mostly done by non-nationals, as many Irish people are not prepared to work in the conditions that apply to fishing boats in my area, which operate in the Irish Sea.

I have also been reminded of the fuel situation by fishermen. One fisherman pointed out that the fact that diesel is subsidised means it is being used in circumstances that otherwise would make one think twice. I have been given figures which show that the cost of fuel for ten days' fishing is €8,000. The catch needed to cover such costs puts such pressure on skippers and their crews that it really is surprising we do not have more tragedies at sea. When one adds the smaller returns from the industry, we can see that fishermen are facing a crisis.

The other complaint I have heard about in my area is the amount of discard being created because of this pressure, particularly on larger twin-rigged trawlers. One fishermen estimates that six baskets out of every 40 are discarded, destroyed and thrown overboard. They are not even logged. Deputy O'Shea spoke about a waste of food. If good food is thrown overboard and is not used against quotas, we in this country have a job to do to prevent this kind of wastage. In Spain, the discard is apparently used against quotas and Spanish fishermen, therefore, do not target smaller material. The Minister of State might smile at this and tell me he has other sources of information.

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