Dáil debates

Wednesday, 22 September 2021

Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed)

 

1:40 pm

Photo of Danny Healy-RaeDanny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about this very important matter. It affects issues from west Cork to Kerry, Dingle to Cahersiveen, and all the way up the west of Ireland to Donegal. Deputies Collins, Ferris and I met with the former Minister, Deputy Creed, when he was introducing the statutory instrument. He did not listen to us. Gladly, Pat the Cope Gallagher, the Minister's former fellow Deputy from County Donegal, annulled the statutory instrument but when the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, got into power he introduced the statutory instrument again.

The way that these penalty points are being meted out is not fair. If a person contests them in the courts and proves the case he or she will not get those points removed from their licence. This legislation makes no sense because the UK vessels will not get points in Irish waters. There is no fairness in the courts system. The Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation argues that the penalty points system could remove an individual's income without that person having recourse to the courts. This is a farcical situation. The courts may say that a person is innocent but the points still remain.

2 o’clock

The Minister is from County Donegal. Is he going to stand over what is happening here and hurting fishermen from Killybegs, all along the west coast down to Dingle and Cahersiveen and along the west coast of Cork? After all, the Minister is from a county that is very much like ours.

The weighing of fisheries products is not covered by this Bill, even though the Government knows that this has been a serious issue since new rules were introduced on 13 April last with immediate effect. In short, the difficulties arise around whether weighing can take place before or after transport, that is, at piers rather than in factories, and in the context of removing ice packaging and having to put it all back in place again. This is totally unfair. Individual weighing and repacking as part of the weighing control system and the problem resulting from this process will not result in better fish quality.

Why apply penalty points to Irish fishermen while UK fishermen fishing in Irish territorial waters are not to be tackled at all? What are the Minister and the Government doing? Can they not stand up for fair play? Rather than penalising our fishermen, why do the Minister and Government not fight for more quotas for them and give them a chance to live? It is affecting the rural communities as well as the fishermen.

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