Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The programme for the Government contains a promise to protect fishermen’s incomes. Last week, the Dáil rushed through the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill 2017. The Bill, which was supported by the Government, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin, did not undergo pre-legislative scrutiny. It had been sidelined in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for two years. The haste in the past several weeks to get it through the Dáil has left many unanswered questions. Legal experts have since found loopholes in the Bill, the effect of which may be to allow foreign vessels from outside Northern Ireland, as well as vessels registered there, to now fish within the six-mile fishery zone limit. If this were to happen, it would have devastating consequences for inshore fishermen. Will the Taoiseach guarantee fishermen that this will not be the case?

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