Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

That sell-out was the treason, not the actions of the poor man who comes in with a by-catch on his boat who is brought before the courts for it.

The Minister made reference to the fact that for lesser offences one goes before the District Court. He misses the point. The point is that once somebody goes before the court, be it the Circuit Court or District Court, and has a criminal conviction, the knock-on effects include that he would be unable to get a visa to go to the United States for a holiday or to see a family. That is the reality.

The fact is that a measure to criminalise a sector was brought through this House, although many of us fought it tooth and nail. Would it happen where, for example, a farmer exceeds his milk quota? Such a person would not be brought before the courts, but a fisherman will be brought before the court if he comes in with one box of fish over the quota. What is being done here is a disgrace.

I appeal to the Minister to deal with the criminalising of the fisherman, to take that stigma away from a great sector of our community, to bring in administrative sanctions for lesser offences and to give the men and women of our coastal communities justice. These people should not be stigmatised, criminalised or driven out of the sector completely, which is what has happened.

Another area to which I refer is the need to tackle illegal fishing. I am against illegal fishing. Illegal fishing has been estimated to be as much as one third the value of the entire legal catch in Irish waters, but that could be a gross underestimate. That is being taken primarily by foreign vessels coming into Irish waters and taking the stocks.

The Minister made reference to the searches and landings.

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