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

What we are asking for is very minimal. These are hard-working people who pay their taxes. They are contributing to us in this Chamber and to services, whether those are carers, pensions or whatever. They are contributing like everyone else and they do not have surety of work. They are dependent on the weather as to whether they can go out to fish. We are asking the Minister to double the days to 60 because 30 days pass quickly. We are not long back after Christmas and the month of January is gone. The other problem the fishermen have is that when their quota is reached, at the end of the month or before it, they cannot go fishing for another few weeks.

They are out again when the time comes because they have to make money to make payments to keep their vessels. They will not get paid if they are at home. They might have already spent a number of days at home because they had filled their quotas or the weather was bad. They go back out on the high seas to try to make a few pounds and the 30 days are stripping days. Thirty days pass quickly. It is only a small request to increase those 30 working days to 60 working days.

Departmental officials certainly have a different idea of 30 working days. Sole traders who are operating on their own or as companies must pay their employees and they must work whatever days they can. That is often seven days a week and, many times, 24 hours a day. That has to be understood and I do not think it is being understood. I humbly ask the Minister for this. I ask him to tell me why he cannot make this adjustment if he will not do it. How would it hurt the process for it to carry on for another 30 days? I ask the Minister to explain that to me. All they are asking is for a period of 60 days to allow a submission in writing to be made to the determination panel from the date of the notification from the SFPA. We could not be more humble or ask for anything smaller than what we are asking for. We are asking the Minister to double the time limit. I do not think it would be the end of the world. I ask the Minister to explain how it would damage the SFPA's case if the time limit was increased to 60 days.

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