Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to be able to speak on this motion and to outline my sheer disgust that this statutory instrument was signed into law by the Taoiseach in the absence of his second Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. While I understand that the Minister was not sitting in that seat when this statutory instrument was signed at the end of August I feel that he and his party have not thought this through. The issues faced here need to be addressed urgently.

Back in May 2018 the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, sat on this side of the House and supported a similar motion put forward by his Fianna Fáil colleague, former Deputy Pat The Cope Gallagher, calling for the annulment of the same system of penalty points. The Minister's own words are on the record of the House expressing the exact same concerns that we in Sinn Féin look to address today. That system of penalty points had been contested in the highest court in this land and was won. It was from this win that Fianna Fáil introduced the Private Member's motion to annul the system. That motion, along with an amendment put forward by Deputy Martin Kenny, was accepted by Fianna Fáil and voted on by the vast majority of this House at that time. Now, here we are two years later debating the same thing.

Most of the fishing community along with the main representative organisations in the industry agree with the need to introduce a penalty point system. The issue, however, is the burden of proof that is required. Again, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, addressed this matter in May 2018. It is worrying that there can be a criminal prosecution on the balance of probabilities. If a decision is challenged in the courts and is won, the penalty points are kept on the licence. This is just complete madness. Imagine the public outrage this would cause if this was a driver's licence. The idea of a person being innocent until proven guilty is gone in this instance, and will cause real worry and concern in the House.

I put it to the Minister that this would be quite a simple motion to get behind. If the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and his party colleagues were able to support a similar motion put forward by Fianna Fáil in 2018, then there is no reason the Government cannot support this one. I advise the Minister to err on the side of caution.

See this speech in context