Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

So, the answer to the big question is "159". It was agreed to make 500 permits available but five months - not five days or five weeks - after the deadline, fewer than one third have been issued. The initial reaction of the representatives of the fishing industry to the reports in The Guardianwas to deny the magnitude of the problem. They did that in debate with Ken Fleming of the International Transport Federation. From a position of initial Government denial, the then-Minister, Deputy Coveney, whose Department published a report which estimated that 48% of people working in the industry were non-EU migrants, which would be more than 1,000, agreed to provide not 1,000 but 500 permits. Now, only 159 have been applied for. That fewer than 160 applications have been made five months after the original deadline can only be interpreted as two fingers from the industry to workers' rights and a shameful indictment of all of the enforcement authorities which have been provided with more than enough concrete evidence of specific instances by Mr. Fleming of the ITF.

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