Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the carryover of the herring fishery. I understand the Minister is talking about 1,300 tones whereas the carryover allocation is only 1,000, so that they are at a loss of 300 tonnes. If that is incorrect I would appreciate if the Minister would correct me. Most boats have been tied up since 3 November and some have not been at sea for 75 days. I am not talking only about the boat owner but the crew. The boat owner and the crew are self-employed people. They have enormous difficulty in accessing support from the Department of Social Protection. In order to get support one has to produce earnings for the previous year from one's accountant and so forth. That is creating huge difficulties. Most people involved in the sector, the crew and boat owners, are only barely surviving. We talked earlier about farm income at €47,000 per year but for most people involved in this sector their earnings are less than €15,000 and way below the minimum wage.

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