Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

There are significant questions outstanding in regard to migrant fishers. The fact we still do not have clear answers either from the Department or from BIM is incredible, given how far advanced we are in this process.

To describe the provision for crew who worked on these vessels to be decommissioned as an afterthought on the part of BIM would not be inaccurate. The International Transport Workers' Federation, ITF, has been in touch with BIM officials since last autumn seeking answers to detailed questions rather than the broad specific points which are understood. Many of the potential beneficiaries among the crew may not have an entitlement to statutory redundancy if they were on a shared catch arrangement as opposed to being directly employed, because shared catch is viewed in official quarters as a form of self employment. Therefore, the crew compensation provision of the decommissioning scheme is potentially only all they have.

It is fair to say that if we were not talking about migrant workers in the main, BIM and the Department would have felt greater pressure from the outset to be clear about this. A generous and inclusive interpretation of the crew entitlement in this scheme and proactive measures to inform crew of their entitlement in their own languages is what it will now take belatedly to repair this negligent approach.

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