Dáil debates

Thursday, 28 March 2019

Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill 2017 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages

 

3:55 pm

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, line 13, after “boat” where it firstly occurs to insert “or a boat used for the purposes of aquaculture”.

The Minister outlined his reasons for dealing with all Stages of this Bill quickly. I note that he was quick to point out that this Bill is concerned with the broader principle, that it is not concerned with the day-to-day management of our sea-fisheries, and that there will be opportunities to talk about such management in the future. The problem is that there will not be such opportunities. We will not get another opportunity so we must deal with them in this legislation. Unfortunately, the only way that this House can deal with these issues is to deal with them now because they will not be dealt with at a later stage. That is the main problem.

While this Bill is about putting on a legal footing arrangements that were previously in place, it arises from companies around the coast taking cases to assert their rights. They fought the Government the whole way along the line to vindicate their rights and practically bankrupted themselves in doing so. Mr. Gerard Kelly is on hunger strike and is outside Leinster House today protesting against these arrangements. In the period since this Bill was first introduced in 2017, these issues could have been dealt with and resolved. This could have been done in a way that would have satisfied everyone and made everybody happy.

However, the Minister has chosen not to do so but to go down this route, which is fair enough. The amendments we have brought forward are an attempt to deal with the issue. I believe they do so and that they should be accepted.

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