Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)

As a coastal TD, I have seen at first hand the decline in the fishing industry. The sector has suffered quota cuts, fleet reductions and fuel pressures. The input of cost increases in recent years has left them facing crisis after crisis. This is following decades of neglect, mismanagement and weak negotiations on their behalf by successive Fianna Fáil- and Fine Gael-led Governments. I want to touch on something because people have mentioned quotas and different stocks. I am going to give a real-life story. A gentleman named Mr. CJ Gaffney is the perfect example of the incredible damage that has been done and continues to be done to the Irish fishing industry. It has literally been gutted – pardon the pun. In 2007, CJ purchased a Dutch trawler, the Mary Kate, and subsequently found that it had serious stability issues that made the boat uninsurable.

After trying to take legal action in Holland and in Germany, as it was German registered, without success, he took out a loan to cover the considerable cost of fixing that boat. Despite finishing the repairs in 2012 at an eye-watering cost to himself, CJ had been unable to earn a living fishing the boat for so long that he was forced to sell it. A UK buyer was found, but due to the boat's history it could not be registered in the UK as part of the fishing fleet. He had to surrender the boat to the bank in 2012 along with his fishing licence, and was left with debts of over €1 million. The decade-long crusade has left CJ emotionally and financially spent with petitions to the European Commission and to the Irish Government to see if they could draw down EU funds from the European fisheries fund in compensation, but that is falling on deaf ears. Now dismantled, her fate has resonated deeply in many coastal communities across the country who have been ignored by consecutive Governments. Questions need to be answered by this Government and by the EU as to how this beam trawler was issued with a stamped stability book from a renowned international classification society. This had serious maritime safety implications. The Gaffney family deserve compensation for this ordeal. We need to ensure that no other family will ever face the same injustice.

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