Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

I raise this matter on behalf of draft net fishermen who fish the River Foyle in County Donegal. Licences in the draft net fishery on the tidal River Foyle are applied for annually and are, therefore, not owned or traded. I understand from anecdotal evidence that there are approximately 50 draft net fishermen who have fished the River Foyle on the upper stretch alone. Approximately 40 of these availed of the buy-out or hardship package available and the remaining ten men continued to fish. However, my grievance is on behalf of approximately 15 licence holders or fishermen who were refused licences. Most are elderly and some are pensioners who have fished this stretch throughout the years during very difficult times. They were refused licences by the Loughs Agency in Derry, which is responsible for that fishery. Why were the fishermen not properly consulted when the guidelines on the dispersal of the licences were being drawn up?

I refer to the hardship package. This package was compiled and specifically designed to facilitate a diversification of effort from commercial salmon fishing to other activities. The hardship package developed for the Foyle area had two fundamental pillars. It would be made available only on a voluntary basis in the draft net fishery to those who would have qualified for a licence in the 2007 season. However, several of those fishermen did not qualify in the 2007 season and the reasons were not properly explained to them. They were not consulted prior to the refusal of a licence and this is the nature of their query.

Fishermen were refused in two areas. New applicants in 2007 were refused under the scheme because they did not have a history of fishing. In addition, licences were refused for previous licence holders who according to section 4c of the regulations had not fished for reasons covered under points 3 to 5 of the regulations, or whose nets were operated by an unapproved senior helper. Such people would, in previous years, have been considered for approval. Let us consider points 3 to 5 which refer to people with chronic illnesses, or people with unapproved senior helpers. These so-called unapproved senior helpers had been fishing that fishery previously without question, so why were they being refused in 2007? These questions have been raised by fishermen in recent years and, more recently, with me.

It is important to raise the matter in the House because the Government provided financial assistance to the Loughs Agency for the compensation package. How much assistance was provided by it? While the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Seán Power, may not have the answers tonight, I would be glad to wait until the answers are provided. How much money or funding is left in the compensation package and has not been dispersed to the fishermen who have fished there for more than 60 years?

Will the Minister of State consult with the Loughs Agency to begin a process of negotiation with the affected fishermen, to allow their grievances to be heard, because they clearly feel they have been wronged. They are fishermen of this jurisdiction and they believe they have been wronged by the Loughs Agency which is based in Derry city in the North. Will the Government consult with the Loughs Agency and clearly outline to it that the fishermen I represent are not happy, and that a mechanism for listening to the concerns of those fishermen should be established? Will the Government seek to find a mechanism either to allow the fishermen to continue to fish, or allow them to avail of the hardship package? It is wrong that such fishermen who have been fishing there for more than 60 years cannot avail of such a package. The fishermen have many questions. While I am not an expert in relaying some of their queries, I do so tonight to the best of my ability in the hope that we can provide the answers the fishermen seek.

I recognise the Minister will listen and I appreciate that he may not have the specific answers tonight. I would be happy to wait for those responses, as would the fishermen. I hope we can bring clarity and a conclusion to this matter which is frustrating to the community in Lifford and St. Johnston.