Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----that we broke that taboo. We wrote the report ourselves. I remember rewriting parts of it during a sunny day. We did that because the carers are very important. I am very proud of the work they are doing throughout the country. They are saving us €4 billion or €5 billion. I realise I am straying from the topic but this shows what can be done by people working together at political level, with no one-upmanship. We were politicians with practical knowledge of the matter. That is the reason I have an awful aversion to consultants and particularly these boards, because the first thing they do is seek a consultant. Next, a cheque for €40,000 or €50,000 is sent out which could be profitably used somewhere else down the line.

My colleagues have referred to the plight of eel fishermen. They have been left in limbo by the effective suspension of their licences. These are people who have made a living from eel fishing. There are approximately 150 of them. They have paid their taxes and complied with their legal obligations. They are not fly-by-night but people who have worked hard over many years. The suspension of their licences is due to a decrease in eel stocks. The life cycle of eels is quite slow, although the Leas-Cheann Comhairle would know a great deal more about fishing than me. I am no expert, but I have some clue about inland fisheries given where I live. In the absence of those licences and given that restoration does not appear to be likely or there certainly is no degree of acceleration in that regard, people have effectively been deprived of their livelihoods and lost their income as well as their way of life. Fishing is not just a job to generate income, but also a way of life for people. It is beyond time that a proper compensation package was put in place to assist these people, who are now in genuine and significant difficulty.

If this had happened in any other sector, there would be an outcry and protests. I represent the agricultural sector and I am the Labour Party's spokesperson for that sector as well as on fishing and rural affairs. If that had happened in the agricultural sector, there would have been a litany of complaints and a number of protests. Let us be fair to these people. The Minister should devise a simple compensation scheme. We have a definite number and it would be fair. I have no doubt that the Minister of State would be eager to secure this but I am well aware that all of these things land in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I also know how people resist things. I was given a great lesson about that during the discussion on the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill. To show how difficult these things are, one of the excuses used was that if we reduced the period to one year, Ireland would become a bankruptcy tourism destination. People would flow in from the North and England to this country, even though the period was already one year in those places. That is the type of ingenuity I encountered and I have not forgotten it, because I considered it preposterous and unsustainable.

The Labour Party will support this Bill. It is an important Bill that fills a lacuna in this area. The Minister of State has acted properly and speedily to bring the legislation forward and we will facilitate the passing of the Bill by the House. I wish the Minister of State well. I acknowledge the way he reacted and worked beyond the call of duty to help secure the future of the fish farm in Lough Owel. It has not gone unnoticed and should be acknowledged in the House.

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