Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In response to the Minister, I appreciate the point that this is an administrative scheme and that the concept of the balance of probabilities is applied. I remain open to the expertise of the Minister's own officials, given that they have spent much time going to and from Brussels over the years. Was due cognisance taken of the fact that we are in a common law system? Whether or not there is a criminal sanction for the application of a penalty points system, fishers feel put upon, whether through decommissioning schemes or the outworkings of negotiations at intergovernmental level in respect of Britain's exit from the European Union. There is frustration on the part of fishers that they are getting a smaller and smaller part of the pot with every successive negotiation. Does the Minister acknowledge the frustration of the Opposition as it seeks to introduce amendments of this nature? It is trying to ensure that if a penalty points system is introduced, it does not further impose upon the fishers and they are not put upon. Can the Minister understand where fishers are coming from? They feel as if there is a slow and gradual erosion of their livelihoods.

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