Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I really appreciate that in the exceptional circumstances and I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle very much.

I join with the Minister in paying my condolences to the family and friends of Hugo Boyle. He was a Donegal man but he was very important to fishers throughout the island, particularly in the south and west where he was the chief executive of the producer organisation. I have seen some very moving tributes to him and I join the Minister in paying tribute to him.

With regard to the issue of licences, I appreciate that the Minister listened to the concerns of fishers and have taken steps in the right direction in designating more ports but the difficulty is that the European Commission notified the Department last year, which gave it plenty of time that there was an issue with designation. The Northern Ireland Fish Producers Organisation, NIFPO, corresponded with the Department and asked about this issue. There was plenty of notice that there was going to be a problem. Right now, there are still affected fishers. For example, Dunmore East will need to be designated. There is a substantial fishery. It is the closest to some of the waters off the UK. Numerous vessels with UK licences land there every year and it would have a real impact. Due to the ill-health of Hugo Boyle, I assume, this issue may not have been raised as forcefully as it would had his health been with him. That may have been an oversight but I ask the Minister to address it. Piers such as Malin Head, Ballywhoriskey and Magheroarty in Donegal should be added.

I am also disappointed that Sea Fisheries Protection Authority officers seems to have controlled the time window available, which is Monday to Friday. We cannot ask fishers to fish a five-day week. They fish depending on weather conditions. There could be tremendous weather on a Saturday or Sunday when they are forced to go out and fish. There needs to be a review of these time windows. We need to respect that the industry has to work with the weather. We do not know what the weather will be on any day of the week so it is unreasonable to limit people to Monday to Friday. I say all of this while giving the Minister considerable credit for fighting the case and sending a message to fishers that somebody was willing to challenge those in authority in the Department. Credit is given to the Minister for his effort but more needs to be done and I ask him to review this and take representations from fishers.

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